


Kamen Rider Calliope

by nanimo_nagi



Series: Kamen Rider Calliope [1]
Category: Kamen Rider
Genre: Canon Non-Binary Character, College, F/F, Female Character of Color, Female Kamen Riders, Female Protagonist, Female-Centric, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Greek myth - Freeform, Hokkaido, Japan, KRC, Kamen Rider - Freeform, Kamen Rider Calliope, LGBTQ Character of Color, Male-Female Friendship, Monster of the Week, Monsters, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Motorcycles, Tokusatsu - Freeform, University, calliope - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-05 04:11:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 46,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13379892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nanimo_nagi/pseuds/nanimo_nagi
Summary: Everyone has responsibilities they didn’t sign up for; Kaname Shizu resents leaving her family’s mechanic shop for a prestigious university to fulfill the wish of her late father. Now she has to balance her schoolwork with fighting reality-bending monsters as the new Kamen Rider, a replacement for the last one that died at the hands of Kronos and his Titans. At least she has a disarmingly-charming college girl to help her deal with both frustrating obligations.This is an original series based off of Japan's massively-popular Kamen Rider franchise. The narrative structure closely follows that of the TV shows, albeit some creative liberties taken to make it work with written word. If you're not at all familiar with Kamen Rider, please enjoy the story of a teenager who's granted the powers and legacy of a superhero via a magic belt that lets her transform into "hero mode". Her duty as a Kamen Rider is to fight the reality-bending monsters connected to Kamen Rider's origin, while protecting the normal people they feed off of. Because it's a show aimed partially at younger demographics, the acting can be corny, angsty and melodramatic. And once you're hooked, you'll love every moment of it.~UPDATES EVERY SUNDAY!





	1. Myth 1:1

Welcome to the first part of this superhero serial fiction story! In case you weren’t clued in by now, this is essentially a massive fanfiction project that I have embarked upon, and am only now realizing the scope of my ambitions might turn this into a true Odyssey… word-count wise, I mean, but hey, also a clever ancient Greek lit reference.

This is the first part of Myth 1. The fiction will be split up into chapters, and each chapter will be further split into parts that are released every week on Sunday mornings (around the same time the actual Kamen Rider tv show airs in Japan). Each part will be roughly around 3,000 words, cut to where I deem dramatically appropriate. There will soon be a convenient tab on the front page of the website where all parts will be archived for easy viewing.

This project is also being released concurrently on my production studio's website (www.bloodletterpress.com) and my personal tumblr, to reach the greatest potential audience. However, only on the BloodLetterPress website will you get exclusive next-episode teasers for the coming week!

And finally, because Kamen Rider is quintessentially Japanese, I make some creative choices with the language in which words I choose to use in Japanese instead of English (99.9% of the time because there’s no equivalent word or term with the same descriptive power, and the rest of the time because I’m a hopeless weeb). Don’t worry, there’s like only one or two per part, and Google Translate should be able to help you if you care enough. Oh and also the names are traditional Japanese family-name, given-name order, unless I messed up somewhere, which I probably did or will.

So yea! Without further ado.

— Nagi

~~~~~~~Kamen Rider Calliope~~~~~~~~

Myth 1, Part 1

 

It was the kind of scene a person witnesses only once, if they’re lucky.

Every corner of the sky was flooded with shrouds of noxious colors; greens and oranges and purples folded themselves together, heavy and roiling, as if the firmament had become a well of Hades. Light was filtered into a muted dim that also seemed to distort sound, catching noises and dashing them against hard surfaces, just to hear the pained echoes they would make. Many humans had found corners to hide in; those that preferred running were spurred on by legions of grotesque monsters, lured by the very fear they were causing.

There were only a couple humans around to witness the battle at the epicenter of this catastrophe, near enough to observe the ongoing skirmish between two tremendous powers. One contender was a man clad in a form-fitting suit that amplified his masterfully-confident martial-arts maneuvers. He was notably faster than his opponent, but even his cleanest hits had only a superficial effect. The monster facing him down was armored in heavy plates that swirled about its hulking body like solidified mist. Despite its humanoid form, the enemy lurched about under its own weight, taking wide-sweeping swings that were easily avoided, until a failed kick prevented the man from escaping the monster’s reach in time. A nearby tree was felled from the force of the fighter’s body flying back into it. The monster paused to chortle at his opponent’s misfortune.

“What’s wrong, Atlas? Were you not going to show me how a Kamen Rider puts evil back in its place?”

Despite the severity of the attack, Atlas was back on his feet in time for a rebuttal. “All part of the plan, Kronos. Enjoy the last moments of your delusional victory; the only Titans I haven’t taken down yet can’t even be bothered to show up in your final hour.”

Kronos growled at this undeniable provocation, as the battlefield remained a fair one-on-one fight. “It shows just how much they were worth in the end. I don’t need them to complete my plan at this point; my to-do list has just one final box to check off, Kamen Rider. So, how about you help me out a bit… and DIE FOR ME?”

Kronos punctuated his last request by smashing the ground in front of him, causing an eruption of necrotic energy to surge forth at Atlas.

“Hard pass on that, sorry,” Atlas replied after a deft roll to the side. “But I’m on board with wrapping this up.” He reached out his hand and pulled a sword from seemingly nowhere; it didn’t have the keen edge of a normal steel blade, but it resonated with an energy that made Kronos shrink back. The sword had several moving components, and Atlas pulled at one of these, revealing an installation port for a small disc.

Kronos sensed the turning of the tides, and struck the ground again and again, sending relentless shockwaves of energy at Atlas. Atlas dodged a couple, and sliced away the third after equipping his weapon with an ancient-looking seal he retrieved from his utility belt. He pulled another lever on the sword and the whole thing shifted form in a flash of light; the new blade was even more menacing, and sported a ring on which to attach even more discs.

Kronos continued his frantic assault, but this time it was the monster’s attacks that proved futile. Each disc Atlas connected to his weapon increased his power immensely, and each one added to a resonance that heralded the build-up for a final, decisive strike.

“Enough of this!” Kronos roared. “You can do nothing against me, no matter whose power you employ!” The monster spread its arms wide, summoning into its grip two massive chains that glowed with molten malice. Atlas barely managed to evade their convergence point, and had to keep rolling and ducking to avoid the chains’ follow-up attacks.

Atlas slid the final seal into place, completing the power-up sequence that set the sword ablaze with purifying energy. “I am Kamen Rider Atlas. I am hope, I am justice, and I am your end.”

“There is no end for me, or for you, we are bound to the same ancient rock,” Kronos spat at him, smashing the chains down and dispersing them in a series of explosions. “You know the prophecy. This is our end until our next beginning, and so it never ends! And yet you…” Kronos ranted madly at the hero who stood ready to charge him, sword held aloft.

“You never see reason! You never acknowledge despair! You never accept your failure!”

“Because I am a hero…” Atlas replied, cutting off his remark in tandem with Kronos’ arm.

“Who does not fail.”

The next moment of silence was a chalice into which the promise of victory was freely poured. Atlas savored it, so much that he didn’t even bother turning around to see his enemy in defeat.

It was too late when he heard the joyous shouts of his allies twist themselves into terrified warnings before they even had time to echo.

“A hero who does not fail?” The honeyed smugness in Kronos’ voice seeped into Atlas’ blood, much of which was quickly vacating the hero’s body through a gaping wound that had appeared in the his abdomen. The arm Atlas had removed from Kronos’ body had proved to be a head that could still bite; more than metaphorically, as it had suddenly transformed into an abomination with a toothy maw and tore at Atlas. He had managed to strike it down for good, but not before suffering injuries as grievous as that first bite. He tried to turn and face Kronos, who he heard advancing upon him from behind, but was flung from his shaking feet by a lazy swat of his enemy’s remaining arm.

“Your words are at odds with your actions, Atlas. Perhaps we can deduce that you…” Kronos sunk his armored boot into the Kamen Rider’s bloody chest. “Are not a hero, but a human fool who plays one with a mask? That would explain the discrepancy.”

Atlas grabbed at Kronos’ leg, trying to shift it off of him, but that only managed to entice Kronos to push down harder. “The prophecy…” he gasped up at Kronos. “You said… there is no end for me… or you… So both of us… will…” He groaned as Kronos ended his sentence with pain.

“This time I thought we’d try something new. I’ve figured out a way to take you out of the picture without returning myself to that hellish void.” Kronos’ remaining arm shifted forms, this time into a spear, heavy and cruelly pointed. “Your work is done here, you masked fool.”

“And with that,” Kronos said, now to no one,

“We begin this story without a hero.”

On this hot night in early August, under a menacing sky, and the terrible shock of a great hope extinguished, Shizu Kaname bolted awake in her bed, sweating from a terrible dream that she promptly forgot.

 

-One Month Later-

後一月間

The morning sun pulled itself up over the windowsill and tumbled down into the folds of the bedsheets. It rolled lazily across the comforter and reached out for the clock on the nightstand, whose alarm had been going off for the past twenty minutes, demanding attention from an empty room. The sunlight had just managed to flop onto the floor and nestle in a pile of laundry when the door burst open.

“Hot Christ! Kaname, if you’re going to sleep in at least turn off your alarm unless… oh, you’re not even here.” The thunder subsided from Shizu Masaki, 42 years great and ever-so-proud mother of a daughter on her first day of university.

“She’s not even here!” The thunder never stayed away for long. “And here I was worrying since five a.m., trying to make a wholesome breakfast and get her out the door well before time so she wouldn’t be nervous about being late… WELL, now she’s got somethin’ to worry about!”

Masaki made a harsh gesture that nearly cost her the blackened lump of eggs and bacon that were chemically converging inside her frying pan. “Whups! Well, guess I shouldn’t let the ones still on the stove go to waste.” She retreated back down the stairs into the thin film of smoke that would tell a better chef they were already too late.

“Third time’s the charm,” Masaki was muttering as she slapped her skillet on the stove and cracked four more eggs. Her keen ear caught the rattle of the front door, and she yelled out

“Kaname! The hell have you been?” Before her daughter could disappear upstairs.

“Not still in bed, fortunately, I think the smoke would have suffocated me by now.” Kaname walked into the adjoining dining room, waving a hand at the air. The 19-year old was dressed in what others would consider her “trademark outfit”; worn-thru hi-tops, black jeans, t-shirt, a stajan-style jacket and a perennial scowl. The jacket was a constant of her attire, having gotten it from her father. The scowl was also from him, or so Masaki claimed.

But it was hard for anyone to miss the many features mother and daughter shared; the lithe frame, hair with a slight natural perm, tired-looking eyes that defied makeup, to name the most prominent. Kaname didn’t quite get all of Masaki’s height, as Kaname seemed to have halted around 166cm, well short of Masaki’s widely-envied 182cm. Kaname’s running joke was that Masaki owed her at least 10cm in her will once she died; Masaki would reply that being bitter and quick to anger was a side-effect of being short, which always got immediate results.

“There! Eggs.” Masaki slapped a plate down on the table.

“If you say so.” Kaname slid into the chair and popped on the tv before reaching for anything else. “And I was visiting dad.”

Masaki sighed and folded her arms, but the thunder had passed again. “You could have told me, we could have gone and washed his grave together, it certainly needs it.”

“Yeah, another time. I just wanted to say I was heading out. And that I blame everything bad that happens today on him.”

“Whatever makes you happy. Or surly, if that’s how you want to play it. Now hurry up, or you’ll be late to be early for your first day.”

Kaname’s sarcasm didn’t rise past a grunt before turning her attention to the TV, in hopes of distracting herself from the unsettling crunch of her eggs. They were running a special on the morning news, and the somber tone was in stark contrast to the station’s usual oversaturated cheerfest. Some pianist who was probably best known for their elevator music was playing in a minor key while heavily-doctored pictures of what was supposedly a scene of tragedy were dragged through a sepia soup on-screen. For the sake of the general viewing public, anything that made the images remotely interesting was pixelated beyond recognition.

“Hard to believe it’s been a month since it happened,” Masaki said, setting down her plate of reheated leftovers across from Kaname (why didn’t she have to eat her own breakfast?). “A Kamen Rider actually getting killed by something. I guess they really are just human, but still, watching a hero lose against a villain does bad things to public morale.”

Kaname shrugged, her interest already lost. “Yeah, well, seems like the villain didn’t even end up doing anything, or at least anything news-worthy. Maybe the police came in and took them out, or the military or summat.”

“True. Whatever happened, I guess I can’t complain that it’s still peaceful,” Masaki replied, enjoying the bliss that came with ignorance. “Still, be careful on your way to the university. And while you’re there. And on the way back.”

“Mom, jeezus. Why are you suddenly acting like one of those neighborhood baa-chans who gossip and worry all day? You’re not even that old yet, and if you were gonna start worrying about me it’s like ten years too late, I started picking fights in middle school.”

Masaki laughed at that. “Fair enough. It’s just a big day for you. And for me in a way. You get to go to the university your dad went to; the fact that he was going to college when we first met was intimidating and enviable for me. And it made him all the more attractive. I always knew university life wouldn’t ever work out for me, but…”

“Yeah, I’ve been saying that too. Another way we’re alike.” replied Kaname from the sink, watching her dishes slip beneath the soapy surface of the water.

Masaki watched her daughter’s back with gentle eyes. “I know, Kaname. It’s not like I wasn’t listening. But now that you’re out of high-school, you gotta find something to do.”

“I wouldn’t mind working in the bike shop.”

“If that’s what you really want to do, after you’ve given some other things a fair shot, I won’t say anything against it. I know university might not be the right fit for you, Kaname, I really do; we are alike. But for your dad’s sake, please just give it a shot. You’re also smart and tough and kind-hearted when it suits you. Too many things to waste on a run-down bike shop.”

The blunt earnestness that her mother was so good at left Kaname too bashful to continue the argument. Despite a general mistrust of educational institutions, there wasn’t anything about learning in particular that Kaname found distasteful. But doing this now felt like she was doing a lot of people a favor, herself not included. It was a responsibility she had never agreed to, and she couldn’t slough it off without betraying her parents’ feelings. So, off to school she went.

–# 

An early fall was already starting to bring some color to the streets of Yuon City. Nestled close to one of Hokkaido’s many beautiful mountain ranges, the city offered a smaller-scale alternative to anything Sapporo had to offer. Its big draw was onsens; in the early settling days it had been difficult to drill for water anywhere without stumbling upon a natural hot spring. Tourist money was good money, and so Yuon was host to more hot springs and spa resorts than nearly all other cities in Hokkaido combined. Locals like the Shizu family always had the neighborhood hook-up though, and avoided the tourist traps in favor of the actual best baths for a fraction of the price. Their family’s offering was their expertise as mechanics; although competing with incoming national chains was always an uphill battle, they could count on the curmudgeons with small-town loyalties to bring their busted scooters and motorcycles to Shizu Masaki’s repair shop, Hephaestus.

Kaname’s own ride was one of the spares they kept around the shop, mostly outfitted with salvage parts. Once she started working in the shop “for real”, Kaname figured she would start building a more serious machine… or maybe just wait until someone sold them a nice bike and she could beg it off her mother. For the meantime, old sodaigomi would have to do (Masaki’s joke of a name she refused to toss out with the actual trash).

Kaname always knew sodaigomi had a shitty muffler, but she had never been so keenly aware of it as when she rolled up to the main gates of Yuon University. It turned heads and raised eyebrows, which was not a desirable first impression for Kaname. She coasted as much as she could to a parking space and put some distance between her and the bike, watching the pristine edifices of brick and glass rise up around her. Sapporo had bigger buildings, but they always felt quiet and impartial, like massive rocks or trees that some people lived inside. These campus building were created to impress and to flaunt the reputation of being Yuon’s most prestigious university. The structures were more artistic than functional; Kaname was almost afraid to approach one for fear of not being able to find the door right away.

Everyone else walked past her looking like they knew everything about the place, which was a fair assessment, as even the freshman had been here a full semester already. There was a map nearby, but there was a shame Kaname felt in being seen reading it. She hadn’t been prepared for the level of social anxiety she was feeling right now; it had been easy to act however she wanted back in high-school, especially without any expectations to meet or cliques to impress. But how was anyone here supposed to know what a carefree rebel she was? How could they judge her poorly if they hadn’t bothered to judge her at all yet? Just let me hurry up and disappoint you all already! And so Kaname’s thoughts went as she stood staring off in a daze, possibly more awkward now than if she had at least been pretending to look at the map.

By some sort of luck or fear-based instinct, Kaname managed to get herself to the administrative offices to pick up her schedule, and then get from there to the life sciences classroom. It was a good first step, the second step coming fourteen minutes later when she realized the class in session was not, in fact, the algebra class she actually had on her schedule.

She allowed herself to break into a full sprint now that the hallways were nearly empty, hoping she could sneak in the back of the classroom like she was always able to do in high school. At the last corner she cut too narrowly and had to make emergency evasive maneuvers to avoid laying out a girl who was right in her path. Kaname took a fall that, as someone who grew up around bikes, didn’t even register on her severity meter, but she hadn’t managed to get back on both feet yet before her near-victim was at her side.

~~ End Part 1


	2. Myth 1:2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has responsibilities they didn’t sign up for; Kaname Shizu resents leaving her family’s mechanic shop for a prestigious university to fulfill the wish of her late father. Now she has to balance her schoolwork with fighting reality-bending monsters as the new Kamen Rider, a replacement for the last one that died at the hands of Kronos and his Titans. At least she has a disarmingly-charming college girl to help her deal with both frustrating obligations.
> 
> Part 2 of Myth 1.

“Are you alright? Your fall seemed quite serious in nature.”

“Ah, nah, it was mostly theatrical,” Kaname replied, only caring about the dust on her jacket in particular. “Gotta roll with the crash, y’know. Real sorry about that, hope you didn’t get hurt or nothin’…” Kaname looked up into a pair of eyes that reminded her of a snowy day in her childhood. She could almost feel the cold again as her gaze was caught and held by the girl before her. She had long, well-groomed hair that flowed about her shoulders in exquisitely-tied braids. Everything she was wearing felt expensive, even if Kaname wasn’t touching it directly. The quality was evident without being gaudy. The girl had taken hold of one of Kaname’s sleeves, and Kaname’s initial reaction was to feel bad that the girl was getting her hand dirty on this jacket she never washed and had just been all over the floor.

“It was most impressive! I’m relieved you weren’t injured. I’m terribly sorry for causing that incident, I wasn’t properly aware of my surroundings.” Rather than being generally disgusted at being in direct contact with Kaname, as Kaname had come to expect from this type since high-school, this girl seemed all the more eager to beg her pardon.

“S’fine, s’fine, It was my fault anyway. I was in a rush cuz– oh right, cuz I’m still very late to alegbra. That’s on this floor right? A304?”

The girl shook her head, giving Kaname a smile that could have rewarmed cold tea. “I’m afraid not. That room is two floors below us, and on the opposite end of the corridor from where we’re situated now.”

“Fantastic. Cheers, I’ve gotta run. But, ah, really though, thanks a lot.” Kaname waved her gratitude at the girl and took off down the hallway again, heading for the stairwell this time. Being in such close proximity to that kind of person, let alone holding a conversation with them, never failed to put Kaname on edge. It was far more disconcerting, as Kaname had just found out, when one of those people didn’t act like an entitled arsewipe. Chalk up another new experience for the books.

Algebra class, or the remainder of it, proved to be about as inscrutable as it had been in high school for Kaname. On an instinctual level, she couldn’t be called bad in any particular academic subject; her motivation levels had always been the primary factor of her weak grades in class. She wasn’t sure if she had managed to lose what little she knew during the semester she wasn’t in school, or if in that time they had done a big shake-up of how fundamental theories were taught. Her mind just kept spelling out English words with the groups of variables on the board. “b-a-d”. Yep, no denying that.

Literature was Kaname’s next class, and by the time she got there her brain had just gotten into math-mode, and thus she had to stop trying to simplify and redistribute the sentences she was reading. There was apparently a metaphor that Kaname was supposed to be picking out of the prose, but her mind was having none of it. She left the classroom in a daze and managed to get thoroughly lost on her way to the cafeteria; by the time she finally found it, she only had time to grab a drink and a pre-packaged bread from the school’s convenience store. Although she knew it would have been better to try and be social, she was in no mood to force herself into awkward first conversations with strangers. So it was out to the quad for her, sheltering in a corner darkened by thick trees and shrubs while she spied on other students milling about.

Even though Kaname probably didn’t look too out of place fashion-wise (it was both amusing and a bit terrifying to see what other people thought of as trendy on a college campus), she felt a gap between her and everyone else that came from beneath clothes or makeup. Everyone else felt and acted like they belonged here, in this kind of world, whereas she was a visitor, an interloper who had stumbled into the wrong party and felt compelled to leave before anyone gave her a second look.

Kaname knew she still had a couple classes to go before she could bug out, so she scrunched up her trash and looked around for a bin; strangely enough, for such a clean campus there were no rubbish bins to be found. On her way through the woodsy part of the quad, she stopped to snatch up a few other pieces of garbage that had gotten caught (or surreptitiously placed) in the shrubs, figuring it was all going to the same place anyway (after being painstakingly sorted into their proper disposal categories).

To her dismay, Kaname was just about to her next class and now had a bigger handful of trash than she had started with, and still no bin in sight. She was just about to give up and stuff it into her bag when someone caught her attention from behind.

“Excuse me, would you like me to take care of those?”

Kaname jumped a bit and turned to face a middle-aged woman in a grey jumpsuit, the typical uniform for a groundskeeper or cleaning staff. “Oh. Uh, actually that would be real helpful. Sorry about this, I just couldn’t find a trash bin…”

“Not at all,” the woman replied, taking charge of the garbage. “I’ve been trying to get the administration to install more around campus. Perhaps if there were actual bins within their line of sight, some students would stop leaving their garbage wherever they stood last… Then again, perhaps that’s wishful thinking.”

“Hah. Yeah, sorry…” Kaname felt even worse now about handing over her own trash to this woman who already had enough to deal with.

“Oh, pardon me, I shouldn’t be complaining about my job. Such habits don’t do the spirit good. Take care now.”

Kaname returned the woman’s bow and made tracks for her third class.

–#

Time seemed to crawl more and more slowly as the afternoon progressed. Worst of all was her final class, a music theory lecture with a professor that managed to be both gratingly dramatic and vapidly boring at the same time. He was (or so he repeatedly claimed to be) a virtuoso of a composer, with whom many of the current generation’s top musical talents had the honor of practicing with. Judging by the amount of awards that were proudly displayed in his classroom, along with the books he had published and framed photos of him with obviously-famous people, his bragging was not unwarranted (and yet if he was as big a deal as he said, you would think he could get other people to sing his praises for him). He was also not the “gentle-hand” sort of teacher; Kaname had dared to ask a question about some complex sheet music he had slapped down in front of them, and he had spent the next ten minutes standing far too close for comfort while not tempering his resonant voice as his finger stabbed out an explanation on the page.

But it was finally over, and Kaname was almost too tired to be happy about it. She made the mistake of sitting down for a moment on a bench outside the classroom and nearly fell asleep right there.

“Hey, sorry to bother…”

“Wha? Huh? Sorry, what’d I do?” Kaname was jolted back to her senses by a kid who had been sitting the next row over in the lecture. He was only slightly taller than Kaname, with a gentle-featured face and a floofy haircut that gave him the demeanor of an easily-startled lamb.

“Ah! Sorry, sorry, I didn’t meant to disturb you! I’m so sorry!”

“What? No, chill out man, don’t even worry about it. What’s up?”

The boy managed to contain his bobble-headed bowing motions after a few seconds and opened up the meticulously-organized notebook that he had been clutching to his chest.

“I really appreciated the question you asked in class, I had been wondering the same thing. But honestly I wasn’t able to understand some of Sueharu-sensei’s explanation from where I was sitting…”

“Ha, yeah, me neither and I was only inches away. Sorry, I might not be of much help.”

“You have your notes with you, right?”

“Ah. Notes…” It was really only at this point in time that Kaname realized she had mostly sat through class staring at the teacher or the blackboard while other students had been furiously writing stuff down.

“Craaaaap. God damn it. Sorry, I don’t really have anything…”

“It’s alright! Do you want to take a look at mine? It might help jog your memory.”

Kaname very much doubted that, but the kid seemed quite pleased at the prospect of helping her, so she accepted his offer.

Twenty minutes later, she understood a lot more of what she had supposedly learned in that class, thanks mostly to her new acquaintance’s thorough but well-paced summaries.

“Jeez. I guess I get it now. Sorry I didn’t end up being of any use, dude.”

“It’s okay, really! Glad I could help. I’m Yasuda Hikaru by the way.”

“Oh. Uh, Shizu Kaname.”

“Well then, here’s hoping we won’t have much trouble with the homework!” Hikaru stood up from his place next to Kaname and stretched.

Oh god. Homework. That’s right, school never just stayed at school where it belonged. Kaname's heart made the return trip back to the bottom of her stomach, marinating in her exhaustion and despair. “Ha. Yeah. That’s… that’s gonna be a time.”

“Are you going to the study club? It’s just about to start.”

Kaname just managed to keep her “hell no” from popping out of her mouth. “Yeah, probably not, I got stuff to do at home (like not be here anymore).”

“I see! Well, I suppose I’ll see you around then. Next time in class, at least.” Hikaru pulled out a small notebook and a mechanical pencil. “Just in case, let me give you my email address in case you had any more questions about the theories we went over…”

“Yasuda buddy, it’s not middle school anymore, I’ve got a phone on me, we can just swap LINE codes or summat.”

“Ah, sorry, I actually don’t have a phone at the moment. I can’t really afford one…” Hikaru blushed a bit, trying to scratch his email address into the paper.

“Oh.” Kaname felt stupid once again, but it bothered her more than usual; she was used to being in Hikaru’s position most of the time, when someone wealthier than her would assume she had or did something that her family had to forgo due to a tight budget. But, just as everyone had assumed things of her, she found herself assuming everyone else on the campus had more than she did. “Sorry, paper’s fine then.”

“Ah, dang it all. Lead ran out…” Hikaru was managing to get himself more and more flustered, and Kaname wanted to spare him any more personal embarrassment; he didn’t seem like the kind of kid who was sitting on an excess of self-esteem.

“Here, use, uh, use this.” Kaname reached into her pocket as a matter of course, and luckily enough, found a pen there. She pulled it out and offered it to Hikaru.

“Thanks!” He scrawled his address and handed it over to Kaname. “Huh, fancy-looking pen.”

He was right; it was thicker than your average ball-point pen, and had some intricate design that wound itself around the body. It looked like a writing instrument that some old explorer or philosopher would use to write vividly-described passages into their leather-bound journals.

“Wow. Well, that’s not mine, I have no idea how I even got it. Probably just accidentally picked up someone else’s without thinking. Go ahead and use it, you’ll need it soon anyway.”

“Really? You sure?”

“Definitely, that’s, uh, not really my style.”

“Great! Thanks so much! I gotta get going, see you!” Hikaru popped the pen into his bag and bounced off to his study group.

Alone once again, it took Kaname a couple minutes of zoning out before she realized she had no obligations left to keep her at the school. And yet she was torn between returning home and just curling up on the bench where she sat and sleeping for a few hours. All she had been doing all day was sitting and listening (with some frenzied rushing in between classes), how in the world was she so tired? She expected she would crash out as soon as she got into her bedroom, and then her alarm would sound, and she’d have to get up and do it all over again. The thought of it made her genuinely want to start crying.

No, there was no way she was going to stay here when she didn’t absolutely have to. Kaname forced herself up and marched her wobbly legs to the parking lot, where her faithful clunky chariot awaited. Riding her motorcycle brought a bit of life back into her, as it always seemed to do. Garage work definitely wasn’t her passion – she wasn’t sure she felt strongly enough about anything to be considered “passionate” – but it was something she knew well enough, and she didn’t hate it most of the time. It wasn’t lectures and homework and feeling constantly out-of-place. The garage was her place. That was where people would expect her to be. At least until she figured out something else to do.

Kaname rolled _sodaigomi_ into the garage, gingerly parking it between the maze of tools her mother had left lying around. She immediately noticed that being back home wasn’t giving her the cathartic release she had been expecting; her chest was still tight and she felt tense all over. She didn’t want to be here either. But she didn’t know why yet.

“So, how was it?” The question accosted her at the doorway before Kaname could even step inside.

“That’s a pretty vague question, mom…”

“Don’t sass me now. How did you like it? How were your classes? Found some friends?”

“Uhhh… Yeah. It was good. All good.” Kaname couldn’t believe the words that jumped out of her mouth. What in the world was she saying?

“I’m so glad!” Masaki popped her head out of the bathroom, where she had been scrubbing some of the tougher oil stains off of her arms. “See Kaname, sometimes you just gotta try something out and your whole world will change!”

“Yeah… It’s pretty amazing all right.”

Kaname didn’t know who was answering her mother’s questions right now, but all she knew was she didn’t want to be around her. She dropped her bags and headed right back out the door.

“Where are you off to? You just got home, aren’t you tired?”

“Uhh… Yeah, but I need to go do something.” Nice, always a solid answer that didn’t invite any follow-up questions. Good job.

“Well, that sounds kinda sketchy.” Masaki frowned at her, coming out of the bathroom. “Oh, are you going to go meet up with your new buds?”

“Ah, yeah, that’s it. Sorry, I don’t really like I can call them friends yet, but still…”

Masaki beamed at her, and Kaname had to avoid her gaze. “I gotcha! Well, in that case be free, _norakkoneko._ I’ll see you when I see you.”

“Yeah, don’t worry, I won’t be late. See ya!” Kaname yanked herself out the door and kicked out of the garage again in record time. She zipped down the streets of her neighborhood at a speed she knew wasn’t quite safe, but she didn’t really care. She couldn’t stand herself right now and felt like if she went fast enough she could leave that person behind that had smiled and lied to her mother. She barely ever acted like that anymore; the last time was during the roughest period of her teenage years, when her father’s death was still raw in her skin and her mother was the only one around to hurt. She had been so glad to put those years behind her, and she was sure her mother was too, because even though Masaki wasn’t always the most conscientious mom, she had deserved better as a person.

As these dark thoughts curled around her brain, her body took a couple turns Kaname wasn’t used to, and when she returned her attention to her location she found herself a long way from her familiar neighborhood. She coasted her bike up a gentle slope and found a small park tucked away on a hill that overlooked the wide Yuon riverbed. She bought a milk tea from a vending machine and perched herself on a bench, idly watching kids slithering about the nearby play structure and older folks walking to and fro on the pathways along the river.

She didn’t think much. It was a relief, and she slowly started to feel the grossness inside her subside to a more acceptable level. The lamps in the park blinked on by themselves and the last few youngsters headed for home. Not Kaname though, she was still hanging out with her “friends”. She wasn’t sure how she was going to handle that situation once she got back to the house, but then again she wasn’t done not thinking about it.

Just how bad would it be to drop out of school very soon? Kaname had given it a chance. It wasn’t her, and she didn’t want it to be. Would her dad really want her to keep going even though she wasn’t getting anything out of it? Maybe they could still get some of the money back if she quit early enough in the semester. Maybe then she could go traveling, and stumble upon something she actually wanted to do. To be free in the wind, no responsibilities keeping her back from something better. Maybe her mom would object, but Kaname knew enough stories about Masaki’s delinquent past that she surely couldn’t deny the “like mother, like daughter” situation.

Regardless of how plausible the scenario was, it was probably time to go back and have a less pleasant follow-up conversation with her mother. No avoiding it now, because she had wasted so much time this evening that she wouldn’t ever get all that homework done. Definitely another valid reason to call college quits altogether.

A feminine scream yanked Kaname’s mind off the proverbial road to freedom she was riding away on. It had come from close by; scanning the area, Kaname spotted a figure running away from someone else on the far side of the park. She dashed towards the figure, ready to give the pursuer a good ass-kicking. Some scummy pervert going after a high-school girl in a quiet park… Oh wait, it was a college girl… Wait, it was that particular college girl.

~~ End of Part 2 ~~  
To read a preview for Part 3 (Sunday, Jan 28), read Calliope on the BloodLetterPress site!  
http://bloodletterpress.com/kamen-rider-calliope-myth-12


	3. Myth 1:3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has responsibilities they didn’t sign up for; Kaname Shizu resents leaving her family’s mechanic shop for a prestigious university to fulfill the wish of her late father. Now she has to balance her schoolwork with fighting reality-bending monsters as the new Kamen Rider, a replacement for the last one that died at the hands of Kronos and his Titans. At least she has a disarmingly-charming college girl to help her deal with both frustrating obligations.
> 
> Part 3 of Myth 1.

“Thank goodness! I’m glad I made it to you in time!”

The beautiful, well-spoken girl from earlier that day came rushing towards Kaname and practically threw herself at her, and she had to grab onto a nearby jungle gym to avoid both of them toppling over.

“What? What’s going on? Who’s chasing you?” Kaname had her priorities straight, but her mind was also stuck on how did you know I was here?

“Sorry, they caught up faster than I anticipated. Are you prepared?”

“Prepared for what? That? WHAT IS THAT?”

The pursuer, whom Kaname had originally assumed to be some lecherous drunk or criminal low-life turned had just about reached them. The thing had a humanoid shape, and stood about as tall as a grown man, but its skin appeared to be formed of squirming shadow. Rigid, bony armor plates jutted out all over its body, including a mask that resembled a vulpine skull. It moved around while hunched over, in short lurches and leaps, and gave the impression of an animal stalking prey.

The monster unhinged its skeletal jaw and let out a gurgling cry before launching itself with alarming speed at the pair of girls. Kaname’s shock and fear had catalyzed with her anger, and she stepped forward to meet it, stopping it short with a blow to the chest before sending it sprawling with a haymaker. The creature rolled about on the ground and seemed too stunned to recover.

“Jeezus. Way too early for Halloween costumes, you freak.” Kaname shook out her hand, which was likely bruised. Whatever kind of material the attacker was wearing, the bones felt real enough, and the shadowy skin in between them had been unsettlingly moist.

“That was spectacular!” The girl rewarded Kaname with that radiant smile while digging around in her bag for something. “Now are you ready for the other six?”

“Come again?”

Kaname turned her attention back to the monster, and saw several others just like it approaching them from various angles.

“Are you kidding me? Is this some sort of sick prank? A group costume?”

“They’re Nyxi; they start spawning once an Ektroma opens Pandora’s Box. Don’t worry about them too much, they’re the least dangerous part of this situation.”

“That was a lot of information and none of it helped! What does any of that mean!?”

Kaname didn’t give the girl enough time to answer her before she had to be back on her gaurd against the so-called Nyxi. Another one had drawn near enough to pounce, put Kaname put it to the ground with a satisfying thud. In a situation where she was outnumbered, she knew that launching a strong offense would be to her advantage. She dashed forward to meet the next one, letting her momentum guide her combo of kicks and punches, and dropped another foe. Despite looking scary, these things didn’t put up much of a threat against someone who had won her share of fights back in her middle-school and high-school days. However, despite their attacks being easy to dodge and counter, Kaname had the drawback of having to guard the girl, and no matter how many times she whacked the monsters, they managed to get back up unfazed after a minute.

“We should probably start running again, these things don’t know how to die. I’ll make us a path and then we’ll run to my bike.”

“We can’t escape now, we’re already inside Pandora’s Box. The Ektroma…”

Kaname was doing more fighting and less listening, and after downing three Nyxi in quick succession, she grabbed the girl by the arm and ran with her towards where sodaigomi had been parked. She didn’t know if it was the high of adrenaline or the setting in of fatigue, but it was at this point Kaname noticed how strange their surroundings looked. The trees, the play structures, the lampposts, the features of every object around them appeared distorted. It felt like they were inside a painting or a lucid dream; everything had lost half a dimension, and nothing felt quite real. The pair reached Kaname’s bike after what felt like far too much running for the distance they crossed, but as soon as Kaname touched the motorcycle, it crumbled into thousands of folded paper cranes.

“What in the high hell!? What’s going on?”

“Like I said, we’re in Pandora’s Box now. It’s not our reality, and the only way to return is to defeat the Ektroma that summoned it.”

“Okay, well, I’m more than ready to fight anything if it means getting us out of this nightmare.”

“Then are you ready to transform?”

“Into what?”

“Into a hero, of course.”

The girl pulled a belt out of her bag. It was surprisingly large, and had a protrusion on the front that looked like a parchment scroll that ancient cultures would write on. The belt looked almost mechanical in nature, with several levers and dials built into its bulky frame. This cumbersome accessory was being held out to Kaname now.

“Wait. Is this... Kamen Rider’s belt?”

“It’s a Kamen Rider belt. It’s supposed to be yours.”

“What? That’s not mine. I’m not Kamen Rider. Or a hero. We need to get out of here.”

“It is yours!” The girl spoke with a conviction that caught Kaname off-guard. Those bright blue eyes dug into hers, unwilling to let go. “I know because my vision showed me so. You are going to transform, and beat the Ektroma, and save us!”

Kaname had no choice but to grab onto the belt that was being forcefully thrust into her arms. “What are you even talking about! I don’t know how to use this, I don’t know what’s going on, I don’t know what to do!”

“That’s okay! I’ll guide you! And being a hero is about instinct- you just listen to the bravest voice inside you!”

Kaname could see the Nyxi regrouping and heading their way. She took a steadying breath. “Okay. Screw it. If this helps us get out of here, I’ll do whatever.”

“Quick, put it on!”

“Like how? It looks too heavy to-- oop, there it goes I guess.” All Kaname had to do was hold the belt near her waist and it wrapped itself around her in a flash, somehow adjusting to just the right width. Something about the belt felt alive, or at least highly animatronic; it was unnerving, but not terrifying in a dangerous sense, like having a large reptile crawl on you for the first time.

“Ok! What now?” After a moment Kaname realized nothing had changed about their situation, besides her now wearing a very gaudy fashion accessory, and the Nyxi were closing in fast.

“Transform!”

Kaname felt the pressing need for some follow-up questions to that imperative, but she knew they really didn’t have time. Being a hero is about instinct, so now was the moment to trust her instinct — or just die like a chump, maybe.

Kaname sprinted forward at the oncoming monsters, reaching out their ossified claws at her; one step, two, three, and into the air; her hand moved on its own, grabbing the scroll part of her belt and pulling it open. She felt an incredible power rushing through her body, wrapping around her muscles and embalming her in a lucid vibration that synchronized with the beating of her heart.

“Hen-SHIN!”

She left the ground an ordinary, slightly-perplexed 19-year old girl, and landed heel-first on the chest of a Nxyi; the monster was blown back several meters from a force that usually came from meeting the business-end of a speeding truck. Kaname was in absolute shock for a moment; so were the Nyxi, it seemed, and then she realized that was an opportunity. One down, then two, three and four; Kaname’s body reacted to her will directly, and her punches landed so fast she was having a hard time following her own fight. Was this what top-tier Olympic athletes or martial-arts masters experienced? Whatever it was, she felt like she could take on a hundred more of these freaks and not break a sweat.

Kaname had dispatched all seven of them so quickly she had time for a short breather while they recovered themselves. She realized she was wearing a full body suit, including a fully-enclosed mask that was well-designed to not obscure her vision (and in some ways enhance it, though she didn’t know how that worked). Was this for real? Was she actually a Kamen Rider? She looked different from the previous one. Who was she now?

The answer came from somewhere within the space she shared with the suit.

Kamen Rider Calliope.

\--#

Kaname turned around to look back at the other girl, dropping a nearly-recovered Nyxi at the same time with a well-placed kick. “Holy crap! Look, look at me! I’m a Kamen Rider right now! I’m Calliope! Apparently!”

The girl was bouncing up and down with excitement herself. “That’s amazing! You’re amazing! And your kick was so cool! But look out!”

Kaname was too busy soaking up the sudden fervent compliments that her brain closed the door on the girl’s warning. If Bruce Lee moves and radiant admiration from beautiful people were the perks of being a Kamen Rider, maybe this would be a good excuse to quit university…

“Please, watch out! It’s coming now, you need to prepare yourself!” The girl’s strained cry finally cut through Kaname’s self-satisfying delusion, and she turned back around. The Nyxi had silently retreated, leaving only her in the park with one other figure. It was unmistakably a monster like the Nyxi, but this one had a different air about it. It was larger, its body thick with sinuous muscle plating, and its bloodlust was palpable. It had a wicked horn protruding from its stump-like head, and a single bulbous eyeball that twitched and swivelled about madly. It opened its drooling maw, but only produced a crazed, guttural shriek that managed to prickle Kaname’s skin within the suit.

“That’s…”

“The Ektroma, yes. You need to defeat it if we’re going to escape Pandora’s Box. It’s much tougher than the Nyxi, but I know you can do it.”

Kaname felt that blazing confidence flare up again, and she clenched her fists. “You know it. I’ll get us out of here in no time, just hang back and watch the action.”

Calliope rushed forward once again, but the Ektroma proved smarter than the Nyxi; it backed up quickly to prevent the Kamen Rider from delivering another devastating flying kick, and then put her on the defensive with vicious swipes of is clawed hands and horn. Kaname was ready for this kind of fight too; she kept her movements tight and efficient, waiting for her opening and seizing it to break through with weighty punches and kicks in places that would floor a normal human. She couldn’t find any useful weak spots besides its eye, which the creature was always very good at guarding, and the proximity to the threatening horn made it all the more elusive a target. But it was clear that she would have to make a go for it.

Calliope took her fair share of blows, but the suit provided her a degree of armor as well; even the couple attacks she couldn’t block or deflect didn’t result in lasting damage, even though they were likely strong enough to leave dents in concrete. Even with her enhanced fighting capabilities, however, she couldn’t quite find the opening to take the shot she wanted. Kaname tried to buck the fear that was nestling between her shoulder blades and dragging its cold fingers along her spine. Well, if she managed to take the monster down along with her, it still counted as a win, right? It’s not like Kamen Riders had a recent penchant for dying horribly or anything…

Calliope pushed a sudden offensive, forcing the Ektroma to guard itself and back off. She used those moments to step back herself, providing space between them for a dramatic showdown. The reality-warping foe roared at her again, evidently also tired of the blow-for-blow slugfest. Calliope offered it a taunting motion with her hand, and it lowered its wicked horn to bear, just as she had hoped (despite what her survival instincts were screaming at her).

She knew to activate her belt once again, which sent a refreshing surge of energy through her. Without needing a countdown, the two enemies charged at each other, the Ektroma’s horn headed straight for Calliope’s chest, and Calliope was not shifting from that course. She timed her leap a second too late according to her brain, but just right by her instincts. Kaname felt the horn slide along her ribcage, thankfully with the suit between it and her precious internal organs. Her arm whipped around the base of the horn, allowing her to hang on to its head and slam her foot right where it needed to be; into the center of the damn monster’s eyeball.

A horrific squelching and a nauseating screech confirmed a critical hit. Kaname landed on the ground and rolled away from the Ektroma’s death throes. With one final howl, the monster’s entire body burst into billowous, frothing goo that propelled in all directions. Kaname ducked again to avoid the surge of dark ichor, but when she looked up it was already evaporating from every surface, turning from liquid to vapor to misty shadow.

In the cathartic moment that followed, Calliope realized this was probably the time where she was supposed to say something cool.

“And that’s why, uh… don’t forget about… when justice… ah… don’t bother coming back!”

Nailed it.

She threw in a dramatic arm gesture for good measure and immediately regretted it as she felt the major bruising on her rib. It hadn’t been a direct hit, but even the suit couldn’t prevent all the incoming damage. Calliope was on the ground when the girl got over to her and touched a lever on the belt, which instantly deactivated the suit. She was just Kaname again; unfortunately the de-transformation hadn’t taken the injury with it. Sitting up gingerly, Kaname saw the park was also back to being just a park; her motorcycle was one whole hunk of junk again and not a pile of origami.

“Are you alright? How badly are you injured?”

Kaname waved her off, just like the first time they had met. “What’d I tell you before? It’s mostly theatrical.” She shifted and let out a groan that didn’t require much acting.

The girl sat back on her haunches, rolling her long hair behind her ear and giving Kaname another one of those purifying smiles. “You must be a theater major then.”

Kaname had returned her smile without realizing it and immediately hoped she hadn’t embarrassed herself by making some dorky grimace at this girl. “Naw, I’ll be okay though, really. I’ve slept off worse.”

“That’s a relief to hear. You should go home and rest now, in that case. You did an exceptional job dispersing the Ektroma, but unfortunately its Wonderpen isn’t here. That means it will return once it recollects sufficient power.”

“Oh god, you mean it’s not actually dead yet? It exploded into goo! How much more dead can something get?”

“Ektroma have more in common with spirits and devils than physical creatures. We’ll have to be vigilant. Are you well enough to ride your motorcycle?”

“Of course, no prob,” Kaname said, getting back on her feet with only a small bit of prob. “What about you?”

“I have a ride arranged for me, it’s waiting already. It’s necessary that I depart immediately.”

“Oh. Well, uh, see ya I guess?”

The girl nodded, still beaming at her. “Yes. Be careful on your way home, and have a rejuvenating rest.”

“Yeah, you too”, was all Kaname could think to say to the girl’s retreating back. It took her a few minutes of standing there alone in the park, gently cradling her aching ribs and slowly letting her mind try to process what had just happened before she realized all the things she should have included in that conversation.

First off, who in the world was that girl? They hadn’t introduced themselves since their first encounter this morning, though to be fair there hadn’t been time or reason to until now. Second of all, WHAT IN THE FIFTY FLAVORS OF HELL JUST HAPPENED. Nyxi? Ektroma? Pandora’s Box? Her, a Kamen Rider? Was she actually dreaming now? Nope, way too much pain for that not to be real. Kaname couldn’t believe this had all taken place on the same day she had woken up for her first day of university.

Oh man, she still had classes tomorrow. Well, maybe her injury would conveniently plague her long enough to require a medical leave. Sorry doctor, came down with a bad case of being a badass. It’s probably terminal. Man why could she be so witty now and not when she needed to say something dramatic? In any case, it was clear she had much bigger things to worry about now than some stupid college courses. Even if it had been just for one night, Kaname had worn the belt of a Kamen Rider, and fought an evil that was still lurking out in the world somewhere.

Getting back on her bike, Kaname’s mind was brought back to what the girl had said when she first arrived at the park. She seemed to imply that she knew Kaname would be there, and that she had been seeking out Kaname specifically. And something about a vision? Maybe that girl was whackier than she let on. It could be dangerous all around to become involved. In any case, Kaname had plenty of time to mull it over tomorrow.

Kaname reached down to start the engine and her wrist hit against the belt. Regardless of what kind of powers it had, it was still oversized and clunky to wear.

The belt she was still wearing.

Whoops.

~~ End of Part 3 ~~  
To read a preview for Part 4 (Sunday, Feb 4), read Calliope on the BloodLetterPress site!


	4. Myth 1:4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has responsibilities they didn’t sign up for; Kaname Shizu resents leaving her family’s mechanic shop for a prestigious university to fulfill the wish of her late father. Now she has to balance her schoolwork with fighting reality-bending monsters as the new Kamen Rider, a replacement for the last one that died at the hands of Kronos and his Titans. At least she has a disarmingly-charming college girl to help her deal with both frustrating obligations.
> 
> Part 4 of Myth 1.

The sunlight pulled itself up over the windowsill once again, but this time instead of finding an empty bed to spread out on, it fell right onto Kaname’s face. She moaned from the indignity and rolled over, and moaned again from the bubbling pain in her ribs. It had just started to settle down from when she had to reach over and subdue her alarm clock. She had lain there for a few minutes after, wondering if she had actually managed to crack or break something; but what would she even tell a doctor? Pretty much anything besides the truth, actually, it wasn’t a hard thing to lie about.

But covering with a lie would mean having to face the truth of whatever the hell happened to her last night. She had, for a brief time, become a Kamen Rider and fought off a grotesque, one-eyed monster that had trapped her and a strange girl in some bizarre alternate dimension. Last night Kaname may have entertained notions that being a Kamen Rider would be a suitable alternative to going to university. However, a good night’s rest and settled-in bruising had woken her up far more sober this morning. She really had almost died performing an incredibly risky tactic against a foe she could have used her superpowers to get her and that girl the hell away from. But no, as soon as that mask was on, a little mortal peril didn’t sound like such a raw deal when she got to be a ~*~hero~*~.

Beans to that. She didn’t regret her actions in protecting the girl, but Kaname was not cut out for the Rider life. The only factor that was putting a damper on her resolve right now was still strapped around her waist. Try has she might, she couldn’t actually find a way to remove the belt. Strangely enough it actually disappeared into some sort of pocket-dimension space when she wasn’t actively thinking about it; but as soon as she realized it wasn’t there, out it came, materializing onto her waist again. So that was something that needed to be dealt with.

And so, as much as she would like, staying home today was not an option. Kaname pulled herself out of bed and took care while dressing, choosing something baggy to hide the belt in case it decided to pop out, which it did just as she was considering this. The pain in her side was significant, but nothing that she couldn’t carefully hide from her mother in the short time she had be downstairs. Kaname was grateful that her mom seemed to have dialed back the enthusiasm from the previous day, not even asking follow-up questions to anything that might have occurred last night. Kaname tried to keep the conversation safe and civil while hurrying as much as she could without drawing suspicion. Today was definitely not the day for that big “I’m quitting school after 24 hours” conversation.

Between getting out the house later and taking longer on her ride to the campus on account of her injury, Kaname was legitimately tardy to her first class. This was of very little importance to her, as she was mainly searching the campus in hopes of running into the girl from yesterday. She had no luck while walking around people-watching, and her only other idea was to hang around at the place where they had first collided. She realized there was no logical basis for her to be there, but all of Kaname’s interactions with this girl felt politely distanced from logic thus far. Her hunch didn’t work out; she did, however, run into Yasuda Hikaru.

The meek-mannered boy was skittering down one side of the hallway when Kaname caught sight of him. As he passed by, she waved him down.

“Oy, Yasuda. Doing alright?”

One look at his face told her that he was not, in fact, doing alright. He was generally unkempt, with dark bags under his eyes that were strongly contrasted against his pale, waxy skin. He still managed a weak, manners-conscious smile.

“Yeah, no problem. I just had a rough night of sleep. I have a big test coming up for my engineering course.”

“Sounds tough. Good luck on that. Hey, have you seen, uh… Well I don’t actually know her name, but she’s like this really well-dressed pretty girl with big blue eyes? Kinda high-class personality and speech?”

Hikaru shook his head. “Sorry, that’s not very specific. Yuon has a lot of girls who come from rich backgrounds. Why?”

“Ah, forget it. I just needed to return something. Sorry to bother.”

Hikaru’s good nature managed to shine through his sickly pall as he gently waved off Kaname’s apology. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll feel a lot better once this test is over anyhow. If you feel the need for a study session this week, just send me a message.” 

“Thanks.” Kaname let him walk off without letting herself think about how this might be the last time she would see him. He definitely wasn’t a friend, but he was more than a stranger, and he didn’t seem like a bad dude (she couldn’t really imagine him having the chutzpah to be any kind of “bad dude” anyway). But at least she would leave knowing that the school was filled with egghead kids who wanted and deserved to be there.

Kaname was still having no luck finding the girl. It was unbelievable how much they had gone through together already while literally knowing nothing about each other. Kaname’s only class that day was already over, so she couldn’t even pretend to have somewhere to be while stalking around the halls of various buildings. Her stomach got the better of her and she bought some lunch from the cafeteria, eating it in a location with maximal foot-traffic viewing. The only person she recognized was the sanitation worker from yesterday, who she exchanged friendly head-bows with.

Maybe the girl hadn’t even come to school today at all; some students had schedules that gave them days without classes. But wouldn’t she have realized that Kaname still had the belt? Or was she just going to pop out of nowhere again, claiming she had another “vision”? Honestly that would be pretty convenient right about now. However, luck (or fate?) finally showed up for Kaname when she caught sight of long hair and impeccable posture at the end of a hallway she was passing by.

The girl was engaged in conversation with a couple other important-looking men in suits, so Kaname kept her distance until her target excused herself from the group. And even though the girl had had her back to the spot where Kaname had been loitering, she approached Kaname as if she had somehow known she was being waited for.

“Hello! How are you feeling today? Are you suffering any adverse symptoms from the engagement last night?”

Once again, the earnest smile that could goad flowers to bloom early dissolved Kaname’s eagerness to complain about her throbbing side. “Naw, honestly it all felt like a crazy dream. Except for one thing that stuck with me.” She lifted up her jacket a bit to reveal the belt that had just popped into existence.

“Oh dear. I apologize for that, I was so flustered by everything that I neglected to mention it.”

“Well, here it is, you can have it back. As soon as you show me how to remove it from my person.”

The girl made a bit of a bow and glanced up at her with gently remorseful eyes, and Kaname already knew what was coming. “I would like to oblige you immediately, but there is a meeting I must attend to. Would you mind waiting for me at the ACRC clubroom?”

“The what?”

“The Ancient Cultures Research Club. It’s located in the geography prep room on the fourth floor of the natural sciences building. Our club president should be expecting you. He might be able to help you, at least until I return.”

Kaname stopped herself from sighing as another step was added to this ordeal. “Alright. So your president knows how to get the belt off?”

“That’s quite unlikely. If anyone would know, it’s Archimedes. You can try asking them.”

“Archimedes? Is that like… a stage name? Do you have a foreigner in your club?”

“Sorry, I really don’t have time to explain right now. Please don’t worry, I won’t be too long!” The girl was already turning to go to her next appointment.

“Yeah, alright. Oh hey, hold up. I know this is a bit informal, but I’m Shizu Kaname (though I have a feeling you somehow already knew that). What’s your name?”

With the grace that emerges from a lifetime of closely-critiqued practice, the girl turned to her and gave her a formal bow of greeting. “I’m very sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I’m Ichiryuu Kokonoka. I’m very pleased to make your acquaintance, Shizu Kaname.”

“Ah. Uh, yeah, the pleasure’s mine,” Kaname replied, wracking her brain for the one time she might have listened to her elementary-school teachers about basic manners. “Wait. Ichiryuu, like the Ichiryuu temple?”

“Yes. My father is the current head of the temple and our family has been in charge of it since its inception. He’s also on the board of directors for Yuon University. You may have seen me talking with him just a minute ago. He’s asked me to attend another meeting with him and an important donor to both this school and our temple.”

“Oh. Wow. Whoops, I won’t keep you then, sorry.” Kaname knew even though Kokonoka had somewhere to be, her perfection of social graces wouldn’t allow her to do the reasonable thing and cut off the interaction. “I’ll see you at the clubroom then.”

Kokonoka gave her a gracious (and perhaps a grateful) smile and confirmed her intentions before hurrying off.

Kaname had no idea how long Kokonoka would be in the meeting with her father and other People of Extreme Distinction and Importance, or what such meetings would even entail her to be doing. Someone like Kaname simply couldn’t imagine it; maybe they just all sat around and played with massive stacks of money and said business words at each other. It was probably all really vague, like “is the project finally complete?” “No, they have yet to act upon it.” “If it comes to it, we can ask that person to step in.”

TV dramas were a helpful educator for Kaname about the ways and means of wealthy people.

Kaname was contemplating all of this as she made her way to the fourth floor of the natural sciences building because she was unsure of how long she wanted to stay in the presence of new people without the support of another slightly-less-new person. But hey, she wasn’t there to make friends; two acquaintances in two days was already pushing the meager limits of her social graces. She could be all-business here; she had a belt to remove.

Kaname swung the door open and stopped to take in the scene. Whatever a geography prep room was supposed to look like, this was likely not it. Any flat surface was distressingly convexed by layers of maps, reports, journals, and various other paper detritus. Balanced precariously atop the apexes were plaster busts and statues of famous people throughout the histories of various countries, as well as paintings, postcards, and even a few puppets and action figures. What impressed Kaname the most was the imposing presence of multiple marble columns that stood floor to ceiling in the room; they didn’t seem to have any structural purpose, but were very effective sight-blockers. Thus she thought at first that the room was empty, and entered to investigate. It turns out the pillars were less marble and more foam and plaster, which was much lighter than Kaname had anticipated when she began touching it; a simple tap was all it took to make one tilt on its unsteady base.

Kaname was too late to grab the pillar before it came toppling down, smacking into another one and beginning the much-anticipated domino effect. Before she could move to halt the unfolding chaos, however, another person’s voice arrested her.

“Oy, what do you think you’re doing!”

A hand reached out and caught the third pillar before it repeated the fall of its companions. A tall, lanky boy with thick-rimmed glasses and a head of frizzy black hair pushed his way through a narrow canyon of research materials that concealed one corner of the room, where he had been completely hidden amongst the academia.

“Be careful with the pillars, they were made shoddily enough to begin with. Barely lasted through the culture fest they were made for. Anyway, I assume you’re the black-cat girl.”

Kaname was caught off-guard at the nickname and unsure of whether or not to be offended. However, the boy’s pointed finger indicating her jacket cleared things up.

“Oh. Right.” Kaname turned herself around so they could both better see the stylised cat silhouette that decorated the back of her jacket, with the words BLACK CAT stitched into the corner. The jacket had been an important inheritance from her father; he hadn’t worn it much, as it had been a bit too small on him, but it was a bit too large on Kaname, and that was just right. If anyone had to give a description of her for identification purposes, “that mean-looking girl in the black-cat jacket” would work well.

“So I guess you’re Archimedes or whatever? The president of the club?”

The boy squinted at her and adjusted his glasses in a way that somehow irritatingly loud; Kaname had to guess he was able to do it in such a way that the “clack” sound punctuated his snarky responses. “I am indeed the president of the Ancient Cultures Research Club. However I have no idea why you would confuse me for a renowned scientist who’s been dead for thousands of years. Did Ichiryuu-san tell you something strange?”

“When doesn’t she? She said I could find someone named Archimedes here, who could help me out with a, um, wardrobe malfunction.”

Kaname wished she had phrased that better as soon as the words were out of her mouth, and avoided the inquisitive glare the boy leveled at her.

“You’re still not making sense. But you’re strange enough to catch Ichiryuu-san’s interest, I can’t deny that. So what area of history is your expertise? Roman? Egyptian? Sumatran? Or maybe you’re a Basque girl? You simply can’t deny the heady allure of the Basque…”

The boy was acting so nerdy Kaname had to physically distance herself by a couple of backward steps. “Uh, exactly none of whatever you said. Are you some kind of history otaku?”

The boy looked highly offended, but not for the reason Kaname was expecting. “Are you NOT? What could possibly be more fascinating than the complexities of a culture that shaped everything we experience to this very day? Our art, our buildings, our government system, literature, agriculture, academics, philosophy, our very modes of thought and action are products of people and their cultures from hundreds, even thousands of years ago! How can such a breathtaking concept not consume your dreams every single day and night? What else could possibly be more captivating in this waking life??”

Kaname’s mind was currently captivated by an exit plan from this room, in case the raving history fanboy closed the distance between them and she had to bring one of the fake pillars down on him to make her escape. However, she was very glad to see he seemed to gain some level of self-awareness.

“Ahem. Anyway, I guess the only question that’s worth asking right now is, if you’re not interested in ancient cultures, why exactly have you come to the Ancient Cultures Research Club?”

“Listen, I really wish I had a more reasonable answer for you, but I’m sorta just here cuz Ichiryuu-san told me I could get the help I needed here. But if this Archimedes person isn’t in, I guess I shouldn’t keep you from… whatever it is you do here.”

The boy crossed his arms and frowned pensively. “Before she left for her meetings, Ichiryuu-san told me a black-cat girl would be arriving here to seek answers that our club could provide. I presumed it was someone who had a report due in a history class, or perhaps a writer stuck on a plot point for their historical fiction. But you have proven the meaning of her words very obscure.”

“Yeah, that’s been a trend I’ve been noticing. I also don’t understand how she knew I’d be coming to ask her about… things before I even found her, but whatever. I’m out.”

Kaname turned and attempted to out, but the doorway she was outing through was full of a person trying to in.

“Shizu-san, you found the clubroom! I’m glad. And it seems you’ve met Odakyuu-sempai as well.”

Kaname stepped aside to let Kokonoka into the clubroom. “Well, if he’s not Archimedes, I guess I have. But it seems like we’re the only ones here now, so I’m not really seeing much meaning in me sticking around…” Kaname gave her a shrug and started past her out the doorway.

“My apologies, Shizu-san. I didn’t have time to explain before, but Archimedes is now present.”

“Once again, I really don’t get what you’re talking about…” Kaname’s head swivelled about, following the polite indication of Kokonoka’s hand behind her shoulder. All she saw was Odakyuu… but definitely not the same Odakyuu she had been talking to seconds earlier.

The boy was now leaning against one of the foam pillars, in a way that the flimsy prop should never have been able to support without toppling over, as it had from Kaname’s light push. This stance made it seem like his body had become nearly weightless and slightly ethereal. She wasn’t sure if it was a trick of her eyes or the light, but she could see whisps of blue flame dancing about Odakyuu’s form. They skipped over the ends of his curly hair and slithered around his body in waves, making it look like he was wearing a toga or some similar long, flowing garment. His glasses were completely opaque with the light of the azure flames, which put the gaze of a spirit in front of the eyes of their human host.

The needle on Kaname’s internal weirdness meter took a moment to catch up to what had just happened. All she could manage after a couple seconds was a weak “holy crap” and a blank look at Kokonoka for some kind of explanation. However, in keeping with how helpful she had generally been with everything they had witnessed up to this point, she gave Kaname a gentle, complacent shrug.

“As I said, I would like to introduce you to Archimedes. They share a body with their host, Odakyuu-sempai, and emerge when they deem the time appropriate.”

“So, you’re the new Rider girl, I presume.” Odakyuu’s voice boomed out at her, filled with far more authority and self-confidence than the host boy presented on his own. At the same time, the voice sounded as if came from somewhere far away, like it was rising up from the bottom of a deep well. “Your name? Shizu Kaname was it?”

“Uhh… Yeah. That’s me. So, seeing as how you’re straight-up some sort of ghost, are you the actual Archimedes dude from ancient Greece or whatever?”

Archimedes gave her a condescending bark of a laugh. “I have shared my form with people from many different cultures and ages in our world’s timeline. It is quite likely that I once inhabited the body of my namesake; however, he remained but a human, and I am much more than that.”

“So I see. So are you just haunting poor Odakyuu-sempai right now?”

“I’m afraid I don’t have much of a choice in who my essence latches onto in any given era. I was fortunate that Kokonoka found me quickly with her gift.”

“Her gift, huh?” This revelation barely phased Kaname; in fact, she had been starting to suspect something of the sort.

“Yes, the daughter of the Ichiryuu clan was born with the gift of foresight, which indicates her bloodline being connected with that of the great Oracles of Delphi back in ancient Greece. Her power has been indispensable in finding the person who could wear the new belt.”

“The new belt. You mean this goddamn thing?” Kaname yanked her jacket up to reveal the contraption that remained strapped to her waist. “Cool, glad you found me. Now it’s time to tell me how to get it off.”

“Off? Why would you want to remove it when you were chosen as the new Kamen Rider?”

“What the hell are you talking about? I used it ONCE to save me and Ichiryuu-san from getting pulverized by some world-warping monster-asshole! One time! I’m not a Kamen Rider and I’m sure as hell not volunteering to be one!”

“It’s a bit too late for that, girl. Surely you understand why you aren’t able to remove the belt?”

“Are you really telling me you’re not able to take it off?”

Archimedes gave her an infuriatingly callous shrug. “It lies beyond my powers. Once the belt has found a compatible soul, it remains connected until such time that their destinies are fulfilled.”

“Yeah, okay, whatever. And what destiny is this, exactly?”

“According to the Gaia Record, the Calliope Belt appeared once Kamen Rider Atlas was killed by Kronos, throwing the prophecy into chaos. Calliope is a replacement, of sorts, a second chance for good to triumph over Kronos and the Ektroma that serve him.”

“So is that what attacked us last night? An Ektroplasma?”

“Correct. That Ektroma was created very recently, so you were fortunate, in a way. You managed to triumph over a fraction of its potential strength.”

“Fortunate, are you kidding me? I almost got gored trying to kill that thing!”

“Yes, fortunate. Your battle instincts are sharp, and further merit your delegation as the new Kamen Rider. However, you were rash in trying to fight an Ektroma without using the belt’s full capabilities. And now that it’s returned to its host, it will soon have enough strength to create a new physical form.”

Oh right, now Kaname recalled that part of the conversation from the night before. “Great. So to finish it for real do you have to find the host and kill that?”

“That is not an advisable course of action, unless you wish to become a murderer. The hosts are the victims we are trying to save from their influence.”

Kaname’s skin prickled. “So the hosts are humans then. Well that sucks. How does that happen?”

“Ektroma are monsters born of negative emotions that are siphoned from a human’s psyche. And the tools that concentrate and distill those emotions into a pure form are called Wonderpens. No one can say for sure how they appear, but they invariably find their way into the hands of hosts they can feed upon. The more the victim uses the Wonderpen, the more it can manipulate their minds until it extracts all it needs to create an Ektroma. Truly a horrible device.”

“Sounds like. Say, uh… What exactly do these Wonderpens look like?”

“I’m not sure if they’ve always appeared in the same form,” Kokonoka answered her, “but the Wonderpens of our era tend to look like regular writing utensils. Perhaps a bit garish or ornate, but nothing that would strike a human as being otherworldly.”

“Huh. That’s… interesting.”

Arichmedes clacked their glasses in the exact same annoying manner that their host did. “Regardless, once the Ektroma are released, they go on to wreak havoc and bolster the expansion of Pandora’s Box, an alternate dimension that wears away at the reality you live in. All of this is beneficial for Kronos and his dangerous schemes. The Kamen Rider is the only one who can put a stop to all this. That is you, Kaname.”

Hearing this supercilious spirit speak her name directly reminded Kaname of how angry she was. “Oh no, don’t be starting that up again. I don’t care even if I have this stupid belt glued to me, I am not agreeing to be a Kamen Rider. I didn’t sign up to risk my life for whatever crazy destiny you’re talking about. I’m not a freakin’ hero! I’m barely even an adult. Atlas was both those things and look what that got him. I’m not… I’m not buying into that. I can’t do it. So just drop it.”

Kaname’s emotions were getting too heavy to keep launching at Archimedes, who had finally fallen silent, arms crossed, listening to her outburst. The moment of silence that filled the space where her harsh words had been was even worse to listen to, so she made her exit.

Kaname rubbed hard at her eyes before turning around to face the foosteps that had followed her out into the hallway. Her blurred vision refocused on a very concerned Kokonoka.

“Shizu-san. I just wanted to profusely apologize for my role in all this today. Please don’t misunderstand my intentions; I truly thought that Archimedes would be able to remove the belt from you.”

Kaname avoided her gaze by looking out the window. “It’s alright. I don’t blame you for that. Hell, I don’t even really blame Archimedes, although they’re kind of an asshole about it.”

“I am far from blameless. I saw you in my vision and brought the belt to you, as I believed I was supposed to, and now you are shackled with a fate you don’t wish for. It’s too cruel. I really, truly am sorry for this.”

Kokonoka now looked closer to crying than Kaname, and it made Kaname more uncomfortable than before. “Don’t say that. Look, that fate’s a bunch of bunk. Shit happens, and I’ll deal with it. If nothing else, I’m glad you gave me the belt so I could save you from the Ektroma. That was worth it.”

The radiant smile that Kaname had bestowed upon her for that comment more than doubled that worth in her mind. Still definitely uncomfortable though, perhaps for different reasons.

“Anyway, I need to get going. I need to meet a friend for some studying.”

“Of course. I will see you tomorrow then.”

“Yeah, I guess so. See ya.” Kaname hurried off down the hall. See her tomorrow, huh? Did that mean they were officially friends now? Was that what qualified as being friends? What were the specific parameters nowadays? What edition of the friendship handbook were people supposed to be using? Kaname had a lot of feelings but no ideas. But, if she did indeed have one friend, she also had another, and she picked up her pace, very worried she might have put that other friend in a whole lot of danger.

~~ End of Part 4 ~~  
To read a preview for Part 5 (Sunday, Feb 11), read Calliope on the BloodLetterPress site!  
http://bloodletterpress.com/kamen-rider-calliope-myth-14


	5. Myth 1:5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has responsibilities they didn’t sign up for; Kaname Shizu resents leaving her family’s mechanic shop for a prestigious university to fulfill the wish of her late father. Now she has to balance her schoolwork with fighting reality-bending monsters as the new Kamen Rider, a replacement for the last one that died at the hands of Kronos and his Titans. At least she has a disarmingly-charming college girl to help her deal with both frustrating obligations.
> 
> Part 5 of Myth 1.

Classes had all ended by the time Kaname left the study club room without success. She stalked down the hall, watching other students marching merrily homeward, and felt the stinging annoyance that she still had to be here when she hadn’t even ended up attending any of her own classes that day. But this wasn’t about her right now. It seemed that Hikaru hadn’t spent much time at study club; his classmates had mentioned him looking sickly and distracted, but he had rebuffed suggestions to go home early, instead announcing his intention to continue studying in the library.

Kaname never had a particularly high opinion of libraries; she figured anything that was worth taking the time to print into a book was probably already somewhere on the internet for free if she ever wanted it. Also apparently you had to be real quiet in the library, a requirement that had not gelled well with elementary-school age Kaname and her over-excitable attitude of needing to ANNOUNCE her OPINIONS and FEELINGS at ANY POINT THEY CROSSED HER MIND. She had grown out of that habit, but the many injustices of being harshly silenced still haunted her. (Thus, being the reasonable and level-headed person she was, she had not stepped foot into any library for more than ten years).

Kaname passed swiftly through the detector gates (in case someone tried to steal a book? Come on now. Remember that thing about the internet?) and preemptively glared down the student librarian in case the oppressor of voices tried to hinder Kaname in her mission. Well good, the mousy bespectacled girl seemed ready to melt behind the reception desk from the unaccountable hostility. Come on now, way to stick to stereotypes in hiring personnel.

Hikaru had a whole section of tables to himself on the second floor balcony area, books and papers radiating outward from where he was hunched over in his chair. He took no notice of Kaname as she drew close, so she had a good chance to visually hunt for the pen she had given him. Unfortunately it was nowhere in plain sight, so she made herself known.

“Yo, Yasuda.”

He gave no indication that he heard her, even from a couple feet away. Kaname caught herself before upping the volume on her greeting, and instead imposed herself into his personal space by knocking on the page he was supposedly reading.

“Hey, egghead. If you stare that hard you’ll peel the ink off the pages.”

Hikaru looked up at her without any kind of surprised response, and Kaname was the one who got the small shock. He looked even worse now than he did earlier that same day; it looked like he had missed three days of sleep within the space of a few hours.

“Jeezus, Yasuda. What’s going on with you?”

Hikaru dropped his heavy gaze back onto his book. “Nothing. Just studying. Trying to. I need to pass this exam. Like I said earlier.”

“Sure, I get it, but is an exam really worth wrecking your health over? It seems like you’re getting our soul sucked out by this study bender you’re doing.” Or maybe by certain tools you’re using to study with, Kaname thought, conducting another visual search for the pen while casually lifting up covers and flipping papers under the guise of being passingly interested in the subjects Hikaru was pouring himself into.

Hikaru’s hands followed hers around the table, correcting the tiny adjustments she made to his study area. “I’ll be fine. It’s just a cold or something, I can sleep it off as soon as this exam is done. Health gets better, bad test marks don’t.”

“Pshaw. There’ll always be other tests, Yasuda. They gave ‘em out like candy back in high-school, and believe me when I say I crapped out on most of ‘em. This is college now, you should be having more fun, rather than wasting your sanity on getting top marks.”

Hikaru got ahead of Kaname’s meddling and snapped a book closed before she had the chance to ruffle its pages.

“If that’s all you’re here for, that’s just fine for you. But don’t get the idea that everyone is like that. Despite its smaller size, Yuon University is still considered one of the most prestigious institutions in the prefecture. And no one could say it’s easy to get into.”

Kaname backed off a bit, seeing Hikaru’s open resistance to her search would hinder anything more. “I’m not really here to have fun either. Or for studying, really. Honestly the main reason I’m here is for… someone else.”

Expecting spite or disappointment, Hikaru’s response caught her off-guard. His weary expression softened just a bit and he leaned back in his chair, his gaze weaving between the bright lights hanging above them.

“I could say the same thing, in a way. I had this friend back in high-school, we were both really interested in engineering. We weren’t the most popular kids, but together we were able to delve into our hobby so that not much else bothered us. We both had our sights set on Yuon pretty early on. This place has the best engineering program in Hokkaido, and probably top ten in Japan. We started studying for the exam months before most other kids would be going to cram schools. My friend had a thing for integrating measurements and dimensions in his head that always amazed me… I was envious, but it never got in the way of our friendship, and while I think we both knew he was the smarter of us, we kept on encouraging each other right up to the day of the entrance exam.”

Kaname had quietly perched on a seat across from Hikaru, who was now lost in his own memories.

“The test was even harder than I was expecting. I was sweating bullets through the whole thing… I thought I was gonna have an ulcer. We both put up confident faces when we met up after the exam, and I tried to not let on how unsure I was of passing. I had no real doubt about him though. And in a way, I was fine with that; with him going to Yuon and me finding another college that suited my abilities better. It only made sense, in a way. But…”

“He’s not here, is he.” Kaname finished his story, sensing Hikaru was nearing the end of his emotional fortitude.

Hikaru shook his head slowly. “But I am, somehow. It makes no sense. He said it was due to stupid calculation errors. I’ve never seen him make those before. But I know he wouldn’t throw the test for any reason; he must have wanted this more than me. I know I got a lot of questions wrong. But still… It doesn’t make sense.”

Kaname felt a lot of things rise up in her chest, surprising her at how many emotions she was feeling for another person she still barely knew, but now suddenly knew too much to not care. She held herself back, however, sensing that Hikaru wasn’t finished.

“My friend’s a ronin now, studying so he can take the exam for next spring. If it was just a stupid fluke that he didn’t pass last time, I can’t imagine him not being here next year. So until then… I need to do my best, for the both of us. If he got here, or if… something else happened, and I wasn’t performing at my highest potential, I wouldn’t be able to face him again. It would just be cruel.”

Hikaru suddenly stood up and began shoving books into his bag. “There will always be other tests. And I’m not going to shirk off a single one of them. And tomorrow, I know I’ll be getting the top score in our class.”

Hikaru darted away from the table towards the library exit. Kaname recalled she had a mission and quickly caught up with him. “Well, good luck with that. Sorry, I forgot to tell you I actually came by to get back the pen I lent you the other day.”

Hikaru barely slowed his pace. “Sorry, I don’t have it on me right now. I’ll find it for you after the test tomorrow.”

“Wh- I mean… okay, whatever.” Kaname stopped hounding him and let Hikaru slip through the electronic sensors and out the door. She hadn’t really meant to let him go so easily, but from her earlier years of dealing with confrontational people (and having been an excellent example herself), she had a sense that Hikaru wasn’t going to give up the stupid tool without a fight. A fight she would invariably win, but grappling a scrawny twink into submission in the middle of the library might not have great consequences later on. (The high-school therapist had considered this late-developed judgement skill to be the crowning achievement of Kaname’s many hours of working with her).

And so, tomorrow. The pain from Kaname’s wound was still unignorable, but the throbbing was becoming duller and less concentrated, as if whoever was punching her repeatedly in the ribs was finally getting bored and/or tired of the act. She attended her two classes that day and actually took a stab at some of the homework that had piled up for her. It wasn’t an easy process, but she answered all of the questions. Correct answers, who could say, but answers nonetheless. The music theory professor’s tutoring style was still as obnoxiously cramped as ever, as he had to move her hand out of the way several times before he could jab at whatever was underneath it on the paper. Once again, she felt that he had the potential to be a good teacher if he ever bothered to unhitch the massive trailer of his ego that he towed around everywhere, imposing and unavoidable and probably full of something you didn’t really care about.

More importantly, she didn’t run into the Ancient Cultures Research Club members today. She didn’t mind interacting with Kokonoka out of the usual context, but she didn’t feel like she had left the clubhouse yesterday on a good note. There was the unspoken challenge Kaname had put forth that she would retrieve the Wonderpen without using Kamen Rider Calliope’s powers, and prove that part-time poltergeist wrong about how much she needed the damn thing glued to her. Hikaru’s exam was over now, so theoretically she’d be able to convince him to return it today. After her final class let out, Kaname rushed to the classroom she knew he had taken the test in (after a bit of snooping about). His class had been earlier in the day, but the teacher had already managed to grade the tests and post the scores on a sheet outside the doorway.

Yasuda Hikaru – perfect score. Number one on the list. Second place hadn’t even come close; the teacher would likely have to curve the grades pretty hard to avoid other kids like Hikaru getting aneurysms after seeing their scores. She was genuinely amazed that the kid had managed that even in his zombie-like state, which she expected had only worsened in the hours before the exam.

Kaname was ready to think no more of it and run off to search for Hikaru, but a couple of engineering students who had been staying late in the classroom suddenly made their exit and stopped to look at the result sheet.

“Shit. There’s Yasuda with a perfect score, again. How the hell does he even do it.”

“I dunno, he’s been on fire the last few days in study club. I think he aced all the practice tests as well. With the way he looks there was a rumor he was on some weird drugs or something. Honestly, if it makes you into a genius overnight, hook me up.”

“Shut up. If you ask me, the only thing he’s been taking is a few good doses of “teacher’s answer sheets”. No one gets that smart that fast and he’s more desperate than most folks in there to act like he’s something more than average.”

“You really think that’s it?”

Kaname didn’t bother to hear the rest of their conversation; the matter had already been settled for her. She was angry, both at Hikaru, and at herself for not putting the pieces together earlier. That anger carried her out onto the quad, where for the first time she actually found who she was looking for.

“Yasuda! Oy, Yasuda!”

Hikaru turned around to face her, and his gaunt complexion didn’t surprise her in the least this time.

“What the hell, man. I gave you the benefit of the doubt yesterday, but now I see that was a mistake.”

Hikaru narrowed his bloodshot eyes at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I need to go and study now.”

“Like hell you do. You don’t need to study at all. Hand over the pen, like you said you would. Or, maybe you won’t, since it’s helping you cheat?”

Hikaru froze in his tracks, and Kaname saw the grip he had on his bag tighten instinctively.

“There I was, buying up your story about your friend like a sucker. Performing at your highest potential and all that shit… Yasuda, if everything else is true, why are you doing this? How can you possibly believe your friend would be okay with this?”

“Leave me alone!” Hikaru responded with the loudest voice Kaname had ever heard him speak in, which was still only enough to make a couple people walking by do a double-take. “This isn’t your business. I’ve come too far to stop now, mid-terms are coming up. I would absolutely fail them since… if I didn’t have the pen. And as long as I’m getting good results, who cares how it’s happening. I wouldn’t be able to do this on my own. I’m just not smart enough. This is so much harder than it was in high-school… There’s no way I would be able to keep up the pace.”

“Hikaru… Look dude, I feel you on that. But like, I think that’s sorta what classes and studying are for, right?”

“What’s it to you? You barely go to class, right? You said yourself you don’t have a good reason to be here. And yet here you are. Why is someone like you here when my friend isn’t? Why are you taking up a space that he could have? Tell me that.”

Kaname couldn’t. She was furious, and upset, and confused as to how to deal with Hikaru’s aggression, when punching his lights out wouldn’t make the problem go away. What’s more, it already felt like he had punched her in the gut, and unlike most physical blows, this one was threatening to make her tear up.

“Damn it Yasuda, I don’t know. I can’t fix that. But I can fix you, and I’m going to because you’re an asshole and my friend, I think. So I’m taking that goddamn pen offa you.”

She stepped forward to do just that, but she didn’t move forward. She stepped again, and no progress was made. Her vision began to play tricks on her, as she saw the ground beginning to shudder and squirm about, like the grass had come alive and was very unhappy with that prospect. Her stomach turned upside down, upsetting all her other organs in the process, as Kaname recognized the feeling that came with this sudden fever-dream experience. She turned around, too slowly for how much she was trying, and saw the monster again.

~~ End Part 5

To read a preview for Part 6 (Sunday, Feb 18), read Calliope on the BloodLetterPress site!  
http://bloodletterpress.com/kamen-rider-calliope-myth-15


	6. Myth 1:6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has responsibilities they didn’t sign up for; Kaname Shizu resents leaving her family’s mechanic shop for a prestigious university to fulfill the wish of her late father. Now she has to balance her schoolwork with fighting reality-bending monsters as the new Kamen Rider, a replacement for the last one that died at the hands of Kronos and his Titans. At least she has a disarmingly-charming college girl to help her deal with both frustrating obligations.
> 
> Part 6 of Myth 1.

It still had that hideous, bulbous eye, despite how hard Calliope’s foot had impacted it last time they crossed paths. In fact, the hulking creature looked like it had gotten a bit of an upgrade since last time; it had developed even more chitinous armor plates along its body, which bristled with spikes of their own. She wondered if the horn above its eye had gotten even larger. But maybe that’s what happens when you fatten an Ektroma up with a load of crappy human emotions. At first Kaname was worried it was coming straight for her; then that fear gave way to the much worse realization that it wasn’t. There were closer targets, a couple of students who were in the wrong place at the wrong time and now couldn’t not be, thanks to the reality-warping effects of Pandora’s Box.

Kaname just then realized that her hand was grasping at the belt on her waist. She fervently reminded herself that she was NOT a hero, and then pushed herself forward with all her might to make it to the students before the monster could. I was like trying to run underwater, but Kaname found that the chaos had a current; depending on where she moved, she would suddenly find less resistance and be able to progress unhindered. This was purely through instinct, without the time to find reasons or patterns, but fortunately Kaname’s instincts had won her most of her battles, including the last round with this freak.

Kaname took a dive as the monster swiped at the students, which sent them tumbling through the warped air. She shoved its arm away to avoid a follow-up attack, and tried to throw a punch at the eye again. Her fist connected, but with the fluctuating resistance around her she couldn’t put enough power behind it. The monster vocalized what could be interpreted as a sickening laugh, and brought its arm swinging back at her. Even though Kaname was anticipating it, her hindered reflexes couldn’t keep her safe. She assumed the Ektroma had gotten stronger, but she suspected the lack of the suit was also what made this swat of its arm feel like a hearty application of a battering ram to her shoulder. She expected to go flying from the blow, but the effects of Pandora’s Box kept her rooted in place, conveniently lined up for the next strike. She could tell the monster was toying with her, and yet she expected her bones to snap each time she took a hit. Kaname could see that the students weren’t even able to get away while the Ektroma was pounding on her; one of the them wasn’t moving at all on the ground, and the other was trying to pull him away to little effect.

She may have made a fatal mistake. But she wasn’t even sure if she could fix it now, to reach down to her belt and activate it without letting her guard down. A direct hit would likely be the end of her. She wasn’t even sure she could beat the thing at this point as a Kamen Rider. The Ektroma swung both its arms wide, and Kaname was already pushing herself backwards to avoid what was coming. She raised her own arms to block as the monster slammed its horned head down on her, driving her into the ground. It raised itself up, but Kaname couldn’t move anymore. She wasn’t sure if she was dying yet, but this was the closest she had ever come to feeling like it. Satisfied with its work, the Ektroma stepped over her to finish off the other students. Kaname willed herself to move, but her body denied her. She just needed to stop that thing. Somebody had to.

Thankfully, this time, that somebody wasn’t her. Kaname saw tendrils of water lash out from somewhere beyond her skyward vision, and heard the responding howl of the monster that they had targeted. A figure stepped into view that, for a moment, Kaname believed to be another monster; it was covered head-to-toe in the same kind of smooth, lustrous plating the Ektroma was, and it sported rows of thin, brittle spines to both decorate and threaten. However, the being’s form was decidedly more human, rather than a monstrous approximation of one like the Ektroma. If the newcomer had been sporting a belt, Kaname might have believed them to be another Kamen Rider, perhaps one that was sort of… ocean-themed? Their overall appearance reminded her of a barnacle or sea urchin.

The Ektroma responded to the attack by turning to the new opponent and putting its head down, readying a charge. With a wave of their hand, the water-weilder sent a swirling jet of high-pressure foam towards the Ektroma, bursting up just under its head and sending the monster sprawling. Before it could recover, the attacker followed up with a few more well-placed watery lashes. The Ektroma howled miserably and decided to retreat, which the victor allowed it to do. Kaname tried to speak, but her lungs were still struggling to get air from the Ektroma’s last attack. Her savior looked her way, their face lacking any identifiable features under a mask of barnacles, and didn’t acknowledge her any further. As they turned and walked away, Kaname felt the space around her stabilize. The adrenaline was also wearing off, meaning everything was starting to hurt even more than it had just a few moments ago.

Kaname’s vision was blurry again, but Pandora’s Box had nothing to do with it this time. She heard her name in her ears, and felt herself being pulled from the ground and brought somewhere else. When her senses had realigned themselves she saw she was in a medical office, on a bed close to a couple other students she recognized from the quad. There were several other people in the room, but the only ones paying attention to her were a moderately concerned Odakyuu-sempai and an even-more-concerned Kokonoka.

“Are you feeling any better, Shizu-san? Are you still in a lot of pain? The nurse said that nothing was broken.”

“Ugh.” Kaname managed to succinctly summarize her feelings about everything that was happening right now.

Odakyuu clacked his glasses. “They said you’ll be able to walk out of here, though don’t expect it to be pleasant. You’re shocking resilient, Shizu, for a human in general. The Greek Hoplite soldiers might even be an apt comparison for your physical capabilities.”

“Shizu-san, I’m so, so sorry we didn’t arrive earlier.” Despite her throbbing everything, Kaname did take notice of how much less “aristocratic” Kokonoka’s speech had become now that she was distressed. “My vision came too late and I felt the need to retrieve Odakyuu-sempai to stand a chance of rescuing you.”

“S’alright. I appreciate it. I still can’t believe I’m not people putty in a me-shaped mold back out on the quad though. Guess I am pretty tough, but being tough really crappin’ hurts.” Kaname looked over at the two other students, who were difficult to see while they were surrounded by nurses and concerned friends. “What about those two?”

“Both injured, but not enough to require hospitalization, luckily. So what exactly happened out there?” Odakyuu was staring intently at Kaname, who was suddenly unsure of how much she was supposed to tell him.

Kaname looked to Kokonoka for guidance. Her confidante appeared to be distracted by something; just when she was about to speak, her gaze was drawn up and away, to somewhere beyond the room they were in or perhaps even further than that. It lasted only a moment, and her usual composure returned.

“Sempai, why don’t we first ensure Shizu-san has some privacy. It’s getting a bit crowded in the office, and I’m sure pressure isn’t what she needs right now.”

Before either of them could reply, Kokonoka stepped back and swung the curtains shut around the bed Kaname was in, closing in her and Odakyuu. As if on cue, Odakyuu twitched a bit and fell forward, as if he had just fainted. Kaname started forward to catch him and then hoped he could catch himself because her body was not about that right now. Fortunately Archimedes had a mind to grab the bedframe before Odakyuu’s head was smashed into it, and once they had righted themselves, Kaname found herself once again staring into the obscuring blue flames that indicated Odakyuu had left the building.

“I will echo Shoki’s bewilderment at the resilience of your slender frame. Despite my many reincarnations it’s rare I meet a human as obstinately vigorous as yourself.”

“Gee, thanks for the weird-ass compliment. So it looks like you get to spy on Odakyuu’s life but not the other way around? Heck, it seems like he doesn’t even know you exist.”

“Manifesting myself requires energy, most of it his, so I reserve my appearances for when I am most needed. But it is true he currently isn’t aware of the situation he and I share. Kokonoka and I thought it for the best, until circumstances deem it untenable.”

“Woo, more problematic deception, love it. Anyway, what do you think you’re so needed for at this particular time?”

“Why didn’t you use the belt?”

“Please refer to our previous conversation, decision still in full effect.”

“So that pride of yours is worth dying for after all?”

Kaname couldn’t quite muster up enough snark for that one. She retreated into sullenness and avoided the spirit’s pupil-less stare.

“You know full well that Kamen Rider’s power would have helped you win that fight. Or at least, prevented a great deal of those injuries. I know I am lacking in several factors when it comes to comprehending human agendas and motivations, but I am truly at a loss this time. You lack not strength, nor will, nor bravery to put yourself in harm’s way.”

“You’re wrong.”

“Why do you hesitate to use Calliope’s power to secure victory?”

“I said you’re wrong. I do lack at least one of those things.” Kaname had curled herself up into as tight a ball as she could manage, despite her wounds crying out in protest.

“I was scared.”

“Well, that’s understandable. The effects of Pandora’s Box and the threat posed by the Ektroma are forces that one can’t expect humans to be prepared to deal with.”

“Not during the fight. I was scared before that. Ever since I almost got killed fighting the Ektroma the first time, in the park… when I was Calliope.” Kaname’s knees were drawn tight against her, and she pushed her eyes against them so hard she started to see stars break out in the sanctuary of darkness. Her voice might have been muffled by her legs, but her confession was not meant to be loud.

“I felt like I was invincible when I was using the belt. But I woke up and realized how reckless I was. This isn’t a schoolyard fight. That thing’s trying to kill people. If… If one of those things managed to kill the last Kamen Rider, how in the hell am I supposed to fight it? He was a hero. I’m not. I told you that.”

Archimedes had no immediately reply to that, and so silence descended. Kaname focused on keeping the sounds of her despair hidden within the background noises that came from beyond the curtain. She wasn’t sure if the ancient spectre understood the awkwardness of long pauses in conversation, but nevertheless they seemed to take their time choosing their next words.

“A hero is not chosen by strength, but by their will to act. To use what power they have to do what they can, regardless of the outcome. That belt does not make you a hero. It makes you a Kamen Rider. Remember that.”

Kaname lifted her head; her vision was blurry again. She wiped it clean. “Not really sure I follow.”

“Kaname. What do you think would have happened to those other two students, had you not interposed yourself?”

That was the first time Kaname had considered the possibility, and she found the prospects unpleasant. “I mean… I couldn’t not. They aren’t even involved any of this…”

“You were prepared to defend them, even in an unwinnable situation. Do my words make more sense now?”

Kaname struggled to avoid admitting so. “I don’t know…”

“Had a hero not been present, they likely would have died. That is the reality of our situation, Kaname, as it has always been. Heroes will fail, heroes will give up, and heroes will sometimes be killed. But if heroes do not confront the evil, there is nothing standing in its path to the powerless. Do not fool yourself into thinking that role is worth the glory or the power. Those who do steer themselves to tragic ends.”

Kaname felt the presence of some context behind those words that she did not know. “…I’m glad I was able to save those students.”

To Kaname’s surprise, Archimedes managed a smile that looked almost natural with Odakyuu’s mouth. “As are we all.”

Kaname sighed and reached down to touch the belt. “Alright. We’ll do it your way. If it’s what I need to save Yasuda and put that monster on ice. And to make sure no one else gets hurt.”

Archimedes gave an approving nod. “To triumph over an Ektroma that has absorbed such a large amount of Fable Ink, you will need to harness the full capabilities of the Kamen Rider system. There is still greater power you can draw out.”

“What? Like what? How?”

“I am unable to answer that. The only one who knows is you; the power of a Rider is based on instinct.”

Kaname groaned as she saw the flames around Odakyuu’s head start to fade. “Listen, I dunno who makes these things, but it wouldn’t kill them to include a manual!”

–#

An hour and a half later, Kaname was up and walking with only a few bandages and cold compresses to deal with her wounds. If she had been honest about how much pain she was actually in she likely would have been referred to a clinic, but once again, she said that she had had worse. Although she was seriously starting to wonder if she was even lying to herself about that.

“Oh, hey, Ichiryuu-san,” Kaname addressed her friend walking beside her, “do you happen to know if there’s any other Kamen Riders hanging around this area?”

Kokonoka gave her a surprised look. “I would think not. I consider it a minor miracle that the Calliope belt appeared, so I can’t imagine there would be another. Why do you ask?”

“Well, someone saved me from the Ektroma shortly before you and Odakyuu got there. They looked slightly like a Kamen Rider, I guess, with weird armor on. Although I guess they might have looked more like an Ektroma? I can’t really say.”

Kokonoka looked concerned, but had nothing to add after a few moments of thought. “We could ask Archimedes about it. I’m afraid I’m at a loss, and if there is indeed another fighter in this conflict it would be important to know about them.”

“Yeah, I mean, don’t worry about it too much.” Kaname wasn’t exactly sure why it wasn’t a thing to worry about, but for some reason she didn’t like the idea of spilling everything to Archimedes when they themselves were so conservative in giving out vital information. “I get the feeling that whoever they are, they don’t want to get too involved. Next time I’ll be ready for ‘em.”

“Alright. I’ll leave it to you then.”

Kaname basked in a smile she hadn’t gotten to experience for the last couple days, that she just now realized she had missed seeing. “So Odakyuu really doesn’t know about how he’s getting used as a meat puppet on the regular?”

“When I first met Archimedes, they convinced me it would be for the best, in the long run. It would seem as though Odakyuu-sempai has adapted to the situation in his own way…”

There was likely only so much adapting one could do when involved in a situation they had no understanding of or control over. “Well, good old Arc said I had to draw out the full potential of my suit to stand a chance at beating the Ektroma. Got any ideas about that?”

Kokonoka only giggled at Kaname’s question, and Kaname felt instantly foolish without knowing why. “Wait, what?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I like your nickname for Archimedes.”

“Oh. I mean, Archimedes is kind of a mouthful. Arc just seems more natural. Do you think they’d enjoy being called that?”

“I have a feeling not.”

“Cool. Arc it is.”

The pair had reached the parking lot at the edge of the school, where sodaigomi was slouching heavily, a chromatic chariot awaiting its driver.

“Ah, sorry, I neglected to answer your question. I’m afraid I have little concept of how Calliope works, but I assure you that you have the full support of both Odakyuu-sempai and myself. In fact, it may be worth having a conversation with Odakyuu-sempai tomorrow.”

“Why’s that?” Kaname’s statement was intended to question said worth of having any conversation with the supercilious Odakyuu, but she knew Kokonoka would rise above her snarkiness.

“The Ektroma resembles a monster from an ancient myth we were once studying. I believe it was called a cyclops.”

Now that she mentioned it, Kaname made the connection; she had seen those kinds of monsters in games before, but they were a lot easier to kill. She had been too busy focusing on not getting impaled by this one to consider how its shape and single eye would classify it as such.

“So Odakyuu’s an expert on killing non-existent, but sort of actually-existent mythical creatures?”

“I couldn’t say. All I know is that his understanding of ancient cultures can be considered encyclopedic. And it wouldn’t hurt for you to bond with him a bit more.”

Kaname didn’t think she could necessarily say that for sure either, but a course of action was a course of action. And overall Kaname didn’t necessarily dislike Odakyuu; he just was more difficult to like than most people. Or maybe he was unfair to say; Kaname had to admit her own lack of trying probably accounted for most of this perception. In any case, he was harder to like than Kokonoka, which was also unfair to say, because Kaname found her very easy to like.

“Alright. I’ll talk with him tomorrow. It’s too bad we couldn’t find Yasuda again, but here’s hoping he won’t keel over before tomorrow. He’s got more exams to study for so I seriously doubt it.”

“Yes. Oh, and, ah… Shizu-san.” Kokonoka added before Kaname could start up her engine. “Do you particularly mind that Archim… Arc just calls you Kaname?”

“Oh. Uh, I mean, I guess not. I don’t consider them a friend by any means, but I understand being some kind of immortal spirit guide leaves you lacking in some specific cultural knowledge.”

“Ah, yes. Well, if that’s the case… I suppose it wouldn’t… but perhaps…”

Kaname was perplexed by her friend’s sudden loss of words, when she was usually so erudite. “I mean, I dunno. Does it bother you? I know he calls you K… uh, by your first name.”

“Ah, yes. It’s fine for me. For the same reasons you mentioned. I was just thinking… If that’s the case… Would you particularly mind if I called you Kaname too?”

Kaname had to look away quickly to hide the red of her face with the intense rays of the setting sun. “Yeah! No, like, go for it. You do you.” Whatever the hell that was supposed to mean.

“Great! To be honest, I’ve always wanted a friend I could be on a first-name basis with.”

“Do you not? You must have a ton of friends who’d be willing to call you that, with how popular you are.”

Kokonoka laughed, a bit nervously. “Oh no. I don’t think any of my classmates would be willing to cross that boundary. In many social contexts I’m required to keep a level of formality, even between people I consider my friends. We may have been allowed more freedom when we were children, but as I now represent my father and the Ichiryuu Temple, we must always keep our public image in consideration.”

Kaname had never once before thought of that as something that needed to be considered. She wanted to protest at how ridiculous that was, but she was more embarrassed that once again, she had needed something explained to her that she assumed based on how the world worked for her personally.

“Wow. That sucks, I guess… Or not. Sorry…”

Kokonoka gave her a smile that desired no apology. “It’s really not that bad. I’m very used to it by now, and it’s not like we feel more distant just because of that. But in any case… I always thought it would be nice, to be able to have that with someone.”

“Oh, yeah, totally. I mean… yeah. Please go ahead and call me Kaname.”

“Wonderful. Please call me Kokonoka then.”

Kaname gave her word to try and do so from now on. They parted ways with only a few more friendly words, leaving Kaname with a whole bunch of thoughts jammed up in her brain. For once, the pain her body was in proved to be a welcome distraction.

~~ End of Part 6 ~~  
To read a preview for Part 7 (Sunday, Fevb 25), read Calliope on the BloodLetterPress site!  
http://bloodletterpress.com/kamen-rider-calliope-myth-16


	7. Myth 1:7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has responsibilities they didn’t sign up for; Kaname Shizu resents leaving her family’s mechanic shop for a prestigious university to fulfill the wish of her late father. Now she has to balance her schoolwork with fighting reality-bending monsters as the new Kamen Rider, a replacement for the last one that died at the hands of Kronos and his Titans. At least she has a disarmingly-charming college girl to help her deal with both frustrating obligations.
> 
> Part 7 of Myth 1.

“Odakyuu. I need you to do something for me. I’m gonna ask you to tell me what you know about cyclopses… But I don’t want you to actually tell me everything you know about cyclopses. Do you understand?”

Shoki gave Kaname a disparaging glance before returning his attention to the papers that crowned the pile on the desk before him. “That’s certainly a limiting way to ask for knowledge. What exactly do you want to know about them?”

It was the next day, and Kaname had managed to arrive at the ACRC room even before Shoki. She may or may not still have a class that she was supposed to be currently attending, but saving the campus from a monster-movie reject took priority over any academic-related matters she could think of.

“Like, I dunno, what the deal is with them.”

“What the… deal is?”

“Yeah! Y’know, why they exist. What their strengths and weaknesses are. Best way to kill ‘em. Y’know, the basics.”

Kaname watched Shoki struggle inwardly between ignoring her and focusing on the homework he had in front of him and his deepest natural instincts of curiosity for ancient cultures. She didn’t have a long wait.

“Well, their origins can be drawn from several different sources. Hesiod, Euripides, and Virgil to name a few. However, the most well-known account of these humanoid giants is indisputably from Homer’s Odyssey, in which the titular protagonist Odysseus crosses paths with several cyclopses on his long way back from the Trojan War. There’s plenty of fascinating interactions that take place between the sailors and this race of gargantuan man-eaters, but ultimately the leader of the cyclopses, Polyphemus, has his eye put out by a sharpened stake thrown by Odysseus, and his crew made their escape. Now what’s truly interesting are the other legends that attribute cyclopses as artisans and builders that…”

“I see,” said Kaname, loudly enough to be sure she interrupted Shoki before their opinions further diverged about what was “truly interesting”. “So in the end they basically just… stabbed it in the obvious weak point, huh. Not really sure what else I was expecting.”

“Yes, isn’t myth just fascinating when you assume everything beforehand and refuse elaboration.”

“I got what I needed. Is it really just a sharpened stick, though? Couldn’t that be considered, like… a spear?”

“Sure. People choose to translate the source in different ways. A spear would be an acceptable interpretation in my mind.”

“Good to know. Thanks.” Kaname gave Shoki a genuinely appreciative wave and headed for the door.

“Are you going to confront the monster again?”

Kaname stopped short. “Uhhh… More or less.” She still hadn’t figured out how much Shoki knew, or was supposed to know about the whole Kamen Rider situation. Kaname should probably have been clued into that by now, but it had never really made it into the top three topics of vital conversation between her, Kokonoka and Archimedes in the last couple days. Kaname understood that Arc wanted him to remain in the dark about his own spiritual possession situation, but any further tiptoeing around was more work than Kaname had signed up for.

“So, you saw me yesterday when I was fighting it?”

“I didn’t see the battle, only the results of you losing it. Look, you don’t have to hide anything about that from me; I’ve been privy to information related to the Kamen Rider since Ichiryuu joined the Ancient Cultures Research Club at the beginning of last semester. A lot’s happened since then, but it seems like she values my help. And she is an earnest member of the club as well… So it’s rather a shame to see the state we’re in now.”

Kaname looked around the room. “I mean, it’s not that messy, I’d think with some gasoline and a match or two the junk’ll clear right up…”

“I mean the fact that our club might not be around much longer. Unless you were too busy looking for material for your hilarious jokes, you may have noticed Ichiryuu and I are currently the only two members. There’s pressure from the university to shut down in order to spend the budget elsewhere, as well as us lacking a faculty sponsor.”

“Huh. That does suck.” Kaname wasn’t being sarcastic anymore; she could see how much Shoki and Kokonoka cared about the things they were into, and the ACRC was probably the only place they could get the resources to learn more about them. And, despite it being a bit selfish to say so, the only place where Kaname could get reliable information on how to fight the Ektroma. Shoki had proven himself more helpful than his spectral counterpart, which made Kaname remember to ask something else before she left.

“Hey, not to be too nosy, but it’s hard not to notice your fainting spells. Is that something you’ve gotten checked out?”

It was hard to ignore the pause Shoki took before replying. “Yes, multiple doctors have said that they can’t find any obvious causes, and there’s too many possibilities that are relatively benign to afford doing medical tests ad nauseum. It’s likely some form of narcolepsy brought on by academic stress. To be honest, after working through the initial uncertainty, I don’t mind it that much. It seems while I’m unconscious, my mind is still able to process information in a way that remains with me when I awaken. It’s like I’m being tutored in a way that’s particularly synergistic to my learning styles, and it ends up being a great advantage in some of my classes. I have a theory it stems from some kind of osmosis effect, I’ve been meaning to set up some tests…”

Kaname had heard what she wanted to and let herself tune out. If Shoki had been under considerable duress from Arc’s inhabitation, she had been seriously considering spilling the beans to him. But it seems she wasn’t giving the spirit as much credit as they deserved, so she relinquished the point.

“Alright, cool. I’m out then.”

“You have no idea what I’ve been talking about for the past minute do you.”

“Got that right. But hey, feel free to explain it to me again after I put my life on the line to put down Giant-Eye Magee out there.”

Shoki gave that a small chuckle. “Count on it. Good luck.”

“Thanks, I’ll probably need it.”

–#

Hikaru was even more tired today.

Even though he had been tired enough to fall into a deep slumber yesterday, his memories had become even more muddled. Had he actually slept, or was that in itself a dream? He was at a point where he was so exhausted the boundary between wakefulness and slumber rippled in his brain like late-night static from an old television. His body knew where it needed to go, but he felt thoroughly disconnected from the experience, like he had been shoved into some form-fitting robotic suit, and the only connection he had to the outside world was through lenses fogged up by his own exhaustion.

He knew he had to keep going, though. Just one more test, and one more after that, and after that, and each one brought him closer to the glorious future he dreamed of, but couldn’t quite picture right now. No one understood his needs, and if they couldn’t help him, they shouldn’t stand in his way. The Ektroma made sure of that. It wasn’t always visible, but it was sure to lurk close by, in case something tried to distract him from his task. Irritating people he vaguely recognized, saying they were worried about him, trying to get him to rest. Professors casting suspicious glances his way, muttering about cheating. And some fool who dared lecture him on his methods, calling him a hypocrite, and even trying to defeat the Ektroma that was giving him his power. No more of that. The next time she stood in his way, she would learn her lesson.

And apparently, despite her attendance in other classes, she was an eager student.

Hikaru saw Kaname, arms folded, leaning against her motorcycle, planted squarely in his path.

“Alright Yasuda, for the sake of appearances, I’m gonna tell you one last time; hand over the pen.”

Inside himself, Yasuda felt an urge to oblige her, for some reason. But he just snarled at her. “You know my answer to that.”

Kaname was already working out kinks in her neck. “Yep, well, negotiations finished, can’t say I didn’t try. I figure we should move this along to the part we both know’s coming.”

“Don’t hurt her,” Hikaru wanted to say, still not quite knowing why.

“I’m giving you one more chance,” Hikaru said, “to back off. I told you how you already waste enough space here.”

“Yeah, well, don’t go thinking you’re the first. I’ve developed a thick skin over the years, the better to punch your face with, my dear.”

Hikaru felt himself smirk. “So in the end you are willing to hurt a friend to get what you want.”

“Can’t deny that. But what I want is to get that friend back. From whatever the hell is making him say this crap right now.”

“This IS me,” said someone besides Hikaru. “This are my true feelings and ambitions, laid bare, allowing me to evolve into something greater! I don’t need saving!”

Hikaru inside Hikaru realized what he wanted to say to her.

“You and everyone else can shove off. I don’t need kindness or empathy or any of that shit. I don’t need anyone… to…”

“Help me.” Both Hikarus said together.

Kaname smirked, making a belt appear around her waist. “I hear you, Yasuda. Loud and clear.”

Hikaru watched the belt shimmer with warm light as Kaname retracted part of it, as if unravelling a scroll, and let it slide back into place. The light expanded over Kaname’s entire body, securing her in a suit of black and silver accented with lively lines of violet. Hikaru could see both the courage of a motorcycle stunt driver and the bellicose grace of an Amazonian warrior in the Kamen Rider that stood to face him now. He quickly realized it wasn’t him she was readying herself for, however, as he was pushed aside by the gauntleted hand of the Ektroma. Vengeful or hopeful, he no longer had any control over this situation; the restless, throbbing energy that had driven him over the past few days left his body all at once, dropping him like a pile of wet laundry by the pathway.

Kaname had only a moment of fear when she saw Hikaru fall, but knew it was because the Ektroma was consolidating its power for this fight. It no longer needed him as a puppet. So, in theory, once she sent it packing for good, her friend should be back to his old wimpy self. Her bigger problem was mitigating the effects of Pandora’s Box; she knew she stood a chance against the monocular menace, but at this point the Pandora’s Box effects were so potent it felt like she was fighting while coated in molasses, after having been spun around to make her dizzy.

Her instinct was trying to tell her something, however. If there had been one thing Arc had said that seemed like worthwhile advice, it was that thing about using her instinct. She touched her belt and again and, feeling nothing reaching out to her, tried forcing it to do something useful. A comforting warmth spread over her, reaching her legs just in time to use them, as the Ektroma tried to bisect her with a heavy swipe of its arm. Calliope was starting to move more naturally again; she felt light and springy, able to vacate before the weight of Pandora’s Box could encumber her limbs again. She wasn’t going to stand there and take another pounding from her lumbering foe, and used her newfound speed to start sending punches back.

The Ektroma, its single eyeball swivelling about madly, let out a hiss that sounded like a hive of hornets being sprayed with hot water. “How dare you!” A choked, snarling voice erupted from its gnashing maw; from somewhere deep inside it, she could still recognize Hikaru. “This was my only chance and you’re taking it away! You will never understand, you outsider! You pretender!”

Calliope deflected another blow and followed up with a high kick, causing the Ektroma to end its condemnation in a squeal. “Oh great, it can even talk now. Best addition yet, I’d say.”

“You tricked him with false friendship! He can’t trust anyone aga-ooomph”

Calliope had expertly dodged both its left and right strikes, and ducked under its guard to deliver a devastating straight right to its stupid face. The Ektroma stumbled back and Calliope pressed the advantage, laying in with a tight combo of kicks and punches, trying to stave off its guard.

The monster finally made her back off with a wide sweep of its horn, combined with a burst of noxious energy that caused a heavy ripple in the air of Pandora’s Box. Calliope momentarily felt stuck again, as time was caught in the eternity between two seconds… and then hit the ground just before the Ektroma’s second swing could catch her.

“You’re still scared, girl!” The monster chided her in gurgling glee. “I’m stronger than ever now, and no matter how hard you fight, you’ll meet your death on the end of my horn!” It tried to punctuate its point by punctuating her, moments after she rolled away. “But flee now, and live! Listen to that fear and save yourself!”

“Tough words for a freak who has a magnetic attraction to my fists. Keep this up and I’ll tag in my grandma to finish you off.”

“Even more foolish not to fear,” it growled. Both fighters stood poised, ready to counter but not to attack just yet. The Ektroma’s eyeball swiveled about to stare at something past Calliope’s shoulder, and she immediately got a bad feeling.

Before she could lunge at it, the Ektroma let loose another energy blast, rippling time and space like a stone breaking the surface of a pond. Fast, then slow, go, then stop, Calliope felt like she was caught between two TV channels flipping back and forth madly. She saw the Ektroma rush past her, heading for a student a short ways off that had been caught on the edge of Pandora’s Box.

“Watch, helpless hero, as someone dies just beyond the reach of those prized fists!”

Cold fear rushed up her legs, through her torso, and nearly made it into her brain before a memory rose up to block it. Something about not being chosen by strength, but by her will to act. She wouldn’t be able to reach the monster and the victim in time; but maybe her fists didn’t have to reach them. Maybe something else could. Her stare still fixed on the Ektroma, Calliope reached behind her, finding her grip on a weapon she willed to be there. She pulled it up, the long shaft etched with streams of violet and silver. Its keen point was already aimed straight at her target.

“Oy, you bile-gargling coward!…”

It slowed only for an instant, but that was all she needed. Its massive single eye swivelled towards her, just in time to take in its last view; the tip, and then the following four feet of a spear that had been hurtled with perfect precision. It let out a final, pathetic scream as it fell to the ground, amidst the streams of hissing ooze that poured feely from its gaping socket.

“Keep your eye on that!”

 

~~ End of Part 7 ~~  
To read a preview for Part 8 (Sunday, March 4), read Calliope on the BloodLetterPress site!  
http://bloodletterpress.com/kamen-rider-calliope-myth-17


	8. Myth 1:8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has responsibilities they didn’t sign up for; Kaname Shizu resents leaving her family’s mechanic shop for a prestigious university to fulfill the wish of her late father. Now she has to balance her schoolwork with fighting reality-bending monsters as the new Kamen Rider, a replacement for the last one that died at the hands of Kronos and his Titans. At least she has a disarmingly-charming college girl to help her deal with both frustrating obligations.
> 
> Part 8 of Myth 1.

Calliope was so proud of her quip that it took her a few seconds to remember she should be checking on the student whose roommate had nearly ended up with automatic A’s for the semester. By the time she had reached the body of the Ektroma, she noticed it starting to swell up in unnerving ways, persuading her to pick up the bystander and vacate the area as quickly as possible. They had barely passed beyond the field of Pandora’s Box when the remains of the Ektroma exploded behind them, just the right distance to be out of danger, but still be aesthetically pleasing as Calliope walked cooly away, carrying the fainted student in her arms.

Calliope held the girl out to Kokonoka and Shoki as they came running forward to meet her. “Take care of her. I’ll be back.” She hurried back the way she came, heading for where Yasuda was still lying on the ground. There was no trace left of the Ektroma, but her spear was still there, gleaming in the afternoon sun. Calliope pulled it out of the ground effortlessly and, with a quick spin, removed it from physical space. Odysseus had certainly chosen his weapon wisely.

Before heading over to Hikaru, Calliope also snatched up the pen that was lying right by the spear. It looked just the same as the one she had given Hikaru back on the first day they had met. Turning it over, she saw the ink gauge was empty, and she could feel no dangerous energies eminating from it. But she was wiser this time, and she wouldn’t be handing it off to anyone else.

Kaname felt the suit dissolve around her as she reached the spot where Hikaru was lying, and when he opened his eyes, he was in the arms of a friend. General confusion quickly gave way to stinging shame as the context of their situation came back to him. Nevertheless, he was hauled to his feet by Kaname.

“Crap… I can’t believe I did that… What the hell was I thinking…”

“Shut up, Yasuda. I’m not gonna hear it.”

Hikaru immediately lapsed into silence as Kaname shifted most of his weight onto her, pulling his arm around her shoulders. She realized he had probably taken that the wrong way.

“You were being controlled by that stupid pen. Don’t go blaming yourself for shit you wouldn’t have been doing otherwise.”

“I can’t really be sure that’s true. It might have affected my mood, but… I can’t deny much of what I’ve been saying. I regret it, but… I think it just revealed how much of an awful person I am.”

Kaname groaned and stopped walking, not even bothering to brace Hikaru as he stumbled forward from the sudden change in motion.

“Oh my god. Don’t start with that. Listen, Yasuda. I already get that was all stuff from your own head. But it was the pen that twisted you all up in it and made you go out of control. It’s some kind of evil tool that feeds off of people’s insecurities. And if all of that was true, so what? So part of you is an obsessive, condescending asshole. Welcome to the club, population, like, all of Earth.”

Kaname yanked on his arm again and they started off towards the nearest building. People were starting to arrive at the scene in groups; the usually-busy area had been conspicuously clear of other people once the fight had started. Fortunately Kaname’s high-intensity glare was successful at buffering other people’s urge to offer aid, and they had a clear path towards the medical office.

“You weren’t wrong about me either. I’ve been keeping it in for awhile now, but honestly, screw this university, and going to classes, and homework, and everything to do with it. I hate almost everything about this place and a large part of me wishes I had actually never gone back after the first day. Hell, if I hadn’t even gone on the first day I wouldn’t be wrapped up in all this mess now.”

Kaname heaved the heavy door open to the building they had reached, guiding Hikaru carefully over the threshold. “But y’know what. I don’t regret it. Yeah, I’m a know-nothing dipshit who’s probably wasting a space at this school when someone like your friend should actually be here. But y’know what, tough burgers. This is the way it is now, and I have every right to hate it as much as I want to, and maybe I’ll quit tomorrow, or a week from now, or never. That’s the kind of obsessive, condescending asshole I am.”

Hikaru was trying to look at her now, but it was Kaname’s turn to avoid eye contact, as she pushed him forward a bit more solidly than was called for.

“Maybe it’s assholes like you that can make this place bearable for assholes like me. Well, a few assholes and a really nice, kind, gentle soul who deserves a lot better.”

Hikaru gave her a weak laugh. “Sorry, it’s getting hard to follow when there’s so many assholes.”

Kaname grinned back. “If you can laugh, you can walk, buddy.”

Hikaru found himself relatively steady on his own feet by this time, and relieved Kaname of his weight. “There might be one less asshole soon, though. Now that the pen’s influence is gone, my grades are going to plummet. Even more than usual, since it wasn’t really helping me learn anything. I really screwed this up.”

“Don’t even worry about that. I’m gonna be making up all the times I didn’t come to your study club. In any way I can, I’m gonna make sure you at least pass all your stupid tests.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“No shit. Didn’t you hear what I was just saying? I do what I want, baby.”

Hikaru smiled at this. He tried to laugh a bit, too, but he suddenly found the process too exhausting. He gave the nearby wall his weight as his vision started to blur, and a concerned-looking Kaname began to fade in front of him.

“Whoops. Okay, let’s get you into a bed, Yasuda. Enjoy your rest now, cuz as soon as you’re up again we’re hitting the books.”

Hikaru tried to give a response, but it was only heard in his dreams, now placid and unburdened by his own heavy desires.

–#

“At least give it some thought.”

“Sure, here goes again. No. Not interested, sempai.” Kaname pushed the top of the paper offered out to her so it curled back upon itself.

Odakyuu sighed irritably and smoothed the application out. “Well, I’m not going to beg. Especially not to you. But I had to try.”

The two of them were standing in the dying light of the afternoon sun cast through the clubroom windows. Kaname had never been more ready to go home, watch some TV and forget that she had just fought off a cyclopean monstrosity, but Kokonoka had managed to catch her and let her know that Odakyuu had something important to ask of her. It had turned out be a request to join the Ancient Cultures Research Club.

“To be honest, I still don’t know if I should be here at this University for much longer. I’m going to help Yasuda study all this weekend,and he claims he’s gonna try and help me too, but I think I’m a bit beyond help at this point. But anyway, there’s gotta be plenty of folks who would be into… fanboying about old dead people with you.”

“You would think. This club has been particularly difficult to recruit for since last semester, and I can’t imagine that situation changing now. We are, however, in a particularly dire spot. I need to submit a report to the Student Activities Committee by the end of today, and if we don’t have any members signed on the ACRC will be disbanded.”

“Why would that happen? There’s still you and Ichiry- uh, Kokonoka-san at least.”

Odakyuu shook his frizzy head. “We both have troublesome circumstances. As you know, Ichiryuu-san’s father is an active policymaker in this University, and he’s never been fond of her spending much time outside of classes doing anything, as he would term it, “frivolous”. Her training to become the Ichiryuu’s successor at their temple is intensive. As for myself, I haven’t been quite as careful with my time management as I should be, between my studies and my research here. My family has never considered my passions to be anything but a… nuisance to achieving high marks. And while I passed everything last semester, it was closer than I would have liked. The bottom line is, if we can’t prove this club still has some life in it, neither I nor Ichiryuu-san can fend off the will of our families much longer.”

Kaname sighed heavily. “That does suck, man. I feel for you. But like I said, I really can’t be the person to help you. Even if I signed on, if I left soon after you’d be back in the same position. Possibly even worse off.”

She turned to make a hasty exit, in order to avoid any greater feelings of guilt that she knew would always get her in trouble for the sake of other people. Just before she could snap the door shut, however, she heard a different voice ask her to wait.

“What do you want, Arc.”

“First off, you were correct in supposing that I would not appreciate that moniker. But more importantly, we still have matters to discuss, miss Kamen Rider.”

Kaname turned around to stare down the blue-flamed specter now borrowing Odakyuu’s body. “No, I don’t think so. The Ektroma’s dead for real this time, and the pen is secure, so no more weird possession problems at this school. Well, besides the one in front of me I guess.”

“I expect you’re being sarcastic with me right now. I know you’re wise enough to realize that there’s more than one pen, and thus more than one Ektroma that will appear. They will all need the might of Calliope to stop them.”

“Well… Good thing I’ve got this superglued to my body then.” Kaname slapped at the belt on her waist.

“Correct. It would behoove you, Kaname, to stick close to your allies. They will need you here, and you will need their skills in time. If you’re looking for an excuse not to run away, consider this it.”

“What a way with persuasion you have. Anyway, I don’t see the connection between me staying here and my conscription as the local superhero.”

“That will also come with time. In any case, I’m ready to make you a deal. I understand your frustration at the situation you’ve been forced into. And while my duties in this time and place align with matters of higher morality, I do not find myself without empathy to your case. Therefore, if you’re willing to continue to fight as Calliope when you are needed, and to heed my advice, I shall consult the Gaia Record to find a way to release you from the belt.”

Kaname was a bit surprised, but she hid it well. She hadn’t expected Archimedes to go that far for her, especially since, as he so haughtily put it, he was concerned with “matters of higher morality”.

“You’re sure? You really mean it?”

“I will do everything in my power.”

This was a decision that had many aspects to consider, but Kaname felt her mind made up fairly quickly. She was tired of considering, and reconsidering, and just thinking about all the ways her actions could blow up in her face, when they inevitably did anyway no matter how much she mulled over them. Sometimes it’s just easiest to play ball.

“Alright then. We’ve got a deal.” Kaname snatched the application form out of Odakyuu’s grasp, where it had suffered slight mangling as Arc hadn’t taken much notice of what was going on with his borrowed vessel at the time. She scribbled her name on it and pushed it back to them.

“Here, hold this. Like that, fingers and all. When you hand the wheel back to Odakyuu he should go submit that before it’s too late.”

“Understood. And Kaname,” Arc called to her as she tried to make her exit once again, “you fought valiantly today. I have confidence in your abilities and potential as a Kamen Rider.”

Kaname felt like she owed him a thanks for this compliment, but she didn’t feel like giving it. “Well… you were right. About some things. Turns out I can’t just stand by doing nothing. Not sure I can call myself a hero or anything like that.”

“That… is not something to be concerned with.”

Before their conversation could be any more prolonged, Kaname snapped the door shut and hurried off down the hall towards the stairwell. Each time she tried to free herself of a troublesome responsibility, she managed to get herself tangled up in another one, like tendrils of seaweed wrapping around her in the ocean. All she wanted to do was to swim to the beach of freedom, if she was to keep up this metaphor. She had just won a fight against a shark, the Ektroma, and freed its small, twitchy sea-otter prey (Yasuda). And Odakyuu and Kokonoka were in there too (a pissy, pinchy crab and a kindly, beautiful sea turtle respectively). And that mysterious masked sea-urchin person, would probably be… well, a sea urchin. Anyway, the point is she was still much wetter than she would like to be.

But maybe an end was in sight. Hang around with Odakyuu and Kokonoka, beat up a few more Ektroma, and with any luck Arc would find a way to get the belt off of her fairly quickly. It was at that station that Kaname disembarked from that train of thought; done, as she had decided earlier, considering all of the potential dangers of her situation. She had stopped worrying about threats that were closer than she realized, closing in faster than she knew, and leading her down a path that she could never prepare herself for.

 

[ End of Myth 1 ]

 

Author’s Note: 

Holy crap, where did 8 weeks go? If you ever want to make two-plus months go in fast-forward, try having a weekly deadline for serial-fiction posts. Anyway, thank you all so much for anyone who read any amount of this fic. This is the beginning of a potentially-enormous project, one that I have a lot of plans for, but still need to do the grueling work of actually putting into digital ink. So, I’ll answer that burning question right now:

When is Myth 2 coming out? Unfortunately that is a bit TBD. I can tell you that I am writing it right now, and that it shall continue to be on my project short-list until it’s done. However, between other BLP projects requiring more immediate attention and my impending return to Japan to fulfill a 3-month teaching contract in April, it might be a bit of a wait.

So to TL:DR – I am actively working on Myth 2 and beyond, and optimal plan A is to have it start publishing in April or May, to run partially over the course of when I’ll be teaching in Japan. Speaking of which, if you are someone who enjoys seeing pics of Japanese life and weeb culture, feel free to give my instagram a looksee (nagi_kaidashi_kikou). Also, comments and feedback are always encouragement for me to keep working on something, esp when I know there are other people waiting expectantly for it.

oh, also, just to give yall something to chew on in the meantime, I plan on publishing a Fourze fanfic piece that’s been sitting on my drive for a while now. Keep a lookout for that in late March or April.

So yeah. Once again, thanks so much for reading! Yall are great.

— Nagi


	9. Myth 2:1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has responsibilities they didn’t sign up for; Kaname Shizu resents leaving her family’s mechanic shop for a prestigious university to fulfill the wish of her late father. Now she has to balance her schoolwork with fighting reality-bending monsters as the new Kamen Rider, a replacement for the last one that died at the hands of Kronos and his Titans. At least she has a disarmingly-charming college girl to help her deal with both frustrating obligations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~~ So, uh, guess who's back! Most of you may have given up hope, but I definitely never stopped intending to continue this series, even though it ended up being exactly a year since the first chapter's release... But yea. Myth 2 is going to be released in the same manner as Myth 1- check back every Sunday morning for the next 8 or 9 weeks for each new part! I had to push myself a lot over the past couple months to get this project out, but I'm proud of myself for what I've managed to create, and I really hope whoever the hell is actually reading this gets some enjoyment out of it as well. ~~~

Once again, the morning sun did its daily pullup over the sill of Kaname’s window, ready to dive into her bed. This time, however, it was met with a barrier of closed curtains, one of its many insurmountable foes. Unable to penetrate the linen defenses, it settled for steadily climbing its way up them until Kaname pulled them open at last. 

The part-time Kamen Rider was massaging her bedhead with one hand while tapping the last bite of toast into her mouth with the other. The opened window brought more illumination to bear upon the mess on her floor, which was being rotated about the room in an errant, sluggish current as Kaname pushed and kicked at random objects in her path. She wasn’t in a bad mood; in fact, this was the first day, after a long weekend of mostly sleep and TV coma, that the pain in her ribcage wasn’t noticeable unless she brought her mind around to it. She had actually managed to get up with plenty of time to spare for the first school day of the week, and had spent most of it in distracted thought. 

She had inadvertently materialized the belt only twice this morning. Kaname was becoming more aware of its… quantum non-existence, and was slowly adapting to life while wearing it. Friday evening was the last time it had attached to her in the shower. And depending on however long it took for Arc to do whatever was required to remove it, perhaps she would only have to deal with a couple more Ektroma before she could be rid of the thing for good. And honestly, now that she wasn’t actively struggling against the process, those times would go more smoothly. Her wooden bedside table received two knocks. 

In fact, the part of her day she was most looking forward to was seeing everyone at the Ancient Cultures Research Club. Now that the stressful situation with Yasuda had been taken care of, Kaname felt more inclined to talk with Shoki and even Arc about non-superhero stuff. And Kokonoka too of course. Kaname felt that she had already crossed into what she hoped was friend territory with Kokonoka, even though the prospect came with a mild degree of anxiety, because Kokonoka was unlike any friend she had ever had… well, maybe she had to include “acquaintances” to make that comparison valid. All during high school, “fist” had come before “friend” in Kaname’s dictionary. At least, that had been her ironic motto until she discovered that it was entirely true, at which point it lost most of its clever appeal. 

Basically, if she had had friends, Kaname figured those friends would be a bit more like Odakyuu; sarcastic, emotionally-distant, male. That was most comfortable for her, at least. Or maybe a girl more like herself, if said girls hadn’t given her a wide berth after teaching the first few a lesson about messing with her. Kokonoka was different in every single way; she was elegant, she was charmingly polite, she smelled heavenly, and managed to radiate grace and class without ever making it look like she was trying. She was a lady, if people still used that silly term nowadays. Sure, she and Kaname both identified as female, or at least shared a circle in the venn diagram, but Kaname was in the space that connected with something else, something more base… she was a stray cat. A norakkoneko, as her mother called her fondly. 

Also, stray cats didn’t wear makeup, yet here she was. 

Her sad little collection of bottles had been dug out of a bottom drawer and coaxed into yielding something for her lashes and lids, although most of her products were more dessicated than an old fisherman’s sun-bleached scalp. She looked like she had taken fifth place in a contest of raccoon disguises, and was in the process of smearing the whole mess southward down her face with a barely-damp makeup wipe. She hadn’t been brave enough to try the lipsticks because all four bottles were BLACK just like EVERYTHING ELSE, which made sense because her 13-year old self had matched her makeup to her WITHERING SOUL and never managed to become more than a PRECOCIOUS ANXIETY PENGUIN

Now she was a hyperventilating raccoon, who had only ten minutes to recompose her usual surly look before heading out the door. The (black) skirt had almost had its day, but back into jeans she went. Her complex feelings towards appearing feminine wouldn’t work themselves out in a single morning of inspiration. Her mother’s stolen makeup wipes worked admirably, and any remaining residue blended in with the dark circles that were usually present under her eyes. Kaname threw her leg over sodaigomi in the garage and turned its engine over, thinking about how she might work up the courage to ask Kokonoka to go shopping with her sometime maybe? She turned the engine again, thinking about what colors she might actually wear besides black and white, what she might look good in, or what Kokonoka might think she looked good in. Kaname turned the engine a third time and then realized that something was not right.

The old beast was sputtering out an impressive amount of smoke, but also refusing to start up. Kaname gave it some tough love, the usual Shizu treatment for a stubborn bike, but it was not having it today. Stepping outside to avoid getting asphyxiated from the smoke in the garage, she mashed at her phone screen until it called her mother. The conversation was short and not promising. 

“Sorry kiddo, I’m an hour outside the city now. I told you last night I was heading out early to an auction with the truck. But listen, I’ll send word to Urusei, they’ll be over in the afternoon and they can take a look at it.” 

Kaname could do nothing at this point but utter a defeated sigh. A late-afternoon repair was not going to get her to university or back from it today. And here she had been cautiously optimistic about being on time for her classes, possibly for the first time since the semester had started? But why bother betraying the professors’ expectations now. Kaname pulled her bag off sodaigomi, shaking her head at the steed that had abandoned its master in her hour of need, and set off for the bus stop. 

-#

“And that’s the story of how I missed all of my classes today.” 

Shoki gave Kaname a withering look. “You were only late enough to miss your first class today. Out of three.” 

Kaname made sure her reaction to his comment was sufficiently reproachful. “Odakyuu, buddy, when you suffer that kind of bad luck so early in the morning, there’s rarely any fixing it. The more you struggle, the more you’ll suffer. I, knowing this, elected to cut my losses and not walk headfirst into any more misfortune.” 

“Wow, less than a week and you don’t bother with my honorific anymore, huh. Well, don’t let me impede you on your path towards academic probation.”

“Shush. I’ll have you know I spent at least a few hours catching up on homework. The classes wouldn’t have done me much good if I hadn’t gotten it completed, so I’m not that far behind.” 

“That seems like a level-headed compromise, Kaname.” Kokonoka cut in at this point, ready to employ any method that would quell the banter between the other two ACRC members, which could go on for as long as they both secretly enjoyed nagging at each other. “Will you be alright getting home today without your motorcycle?”

“Yeah, of course. Bus ain’t that bad.” Kaname got the chance to admire Kokonoka’s exemplary fashion choices while speaking to her, a small ray of sunshine that she had gone without over the weekend. The high-society girl’s outfits were never flashy enough to demand attention, but rather graciously accepted it whenever eyes were drawn to her due to the subtle elegance of her wardrobe and makeup. Kaname was quietly thankful she hadn’t taken a risk with her own clothing choices today, as her attempt at fashion would almost feel insulting while in the same vicinity as the illustrious Ichiryuu Kokonoka. 

Kaname felt the air in the room shift in the way it only did when there was a change in spiritual frequency; she had almost gotten used to it by now, as much as anyone could who still wanted to maintain some semblance of a mundane life. But that was so far behind her now, all she could do was sigh a bit and pull her eyes away from Kokonoka’s silky locks, and stare into the eerie blue lenses that signaled the presence of Archimedes.

“What a strange thing a weekend is… Surely the people of this time understand that the forces of evil don’t observe days of recreation or rest. It’s been too long since our last meeting, and we haven’t even had time to debrief from our last Ektroma battle.”

Kaname arched an eyebrow at Arc. “Some of us need that rest, from all kinds of ‘evil’ forces. And what even is there to debrief? I came, I saw, I kicked ass. Hikaru’s back to his shrimpy old self and I took that stupid pen away for real this time.” 

Arc’s blue flames flittered at the mention of the pen. “Yes, the Wonderpen. The essential piece of this puzzle. You did well in retrieving it, this time, Kaname.”   
Kaname couldn’t ignore how they a chosen to punctuate that sentence, but she let it pass without comment. “Yeah, I was pretty great at that. Anyway, no more need to worry about that dumb ol’ pen. I made sure to chuck it way far into the river as I was going home on Friday. Won’t be bothering anyone else ever again!”

Kaname was hardly able to bask in her sense of accomplishment before noticing the aghast faces of the other two (three, if you counted Shoki’s face twice). 

“You… chucked it?” Archimedes croaked. “What does that mean, exactly?”

“Uhhh… y’know, like, I just wound up like this,” Kaname did her best (poor) imitation of a baseball pitcher, “and then, like, hucked it! I mean, threw it real far into the river.” 

“But WHY.” Arc put their face in Shoki’s hands. “Why would you do that. Do you not understand, girl, the danger that tool presents?” 

“Well yeah, duh, that’s why I threw it in the river… I mean… That’s where you throw all the bad stuff you don’t want showing up again… at least, that’s what I’ve always done…” Kaname knew Arc wouldn’t understand, and looked to Kokonoka for backup, but she just received a thoroughly baffled look. Apparently super-classy people didn’t dispose of their stuff (bad report cards, bloody bandages, age-inappropriate magazines stolen from convenience stores) in the huge river running through the city like she saw so many other miscreants doing? 

Kaname waved her hands at both of them. “Listen, don’t worry. I get now that that might have been a bad call. But there’s no way that thing will be turning up again, it’s gotta be flushed out to the sea by now. Though I guess there’s a tiny chance we might end up fighting some evil tuna fisherman.” 

“It’s not just the act of keeping it safe from others,” Arc said brusquely, “the Wonderpen can be modified into a tool that can help Calliope and bolster her powers. It would have been a great advantage against the new Ektroma.” 

Kaname’s heart sank. “Oh God. You said new?”

“Indeed. Kokonoka had a vision earlier today of another Ektroma coming into being somewhere within the city.” 

“How, though? Does that mean there’s another Wonderpen?”

“Correct. There are many, and they shall continue to show up.” 

“But why? How does this happen? Can we stop it?” 

“That’s not our primary concern right now. We need to focus on tracking down and defeating this emergent threat, as per our agreement.” 

It felt a bit superfluous to pull that detail out now, as if Kaname was going to try and resist again. “Yeah, I know the drill. But you gotta remember I’m still not caught up speed on to, like, any of this. I am working with so many unknown variables here, and I was expecting at some point you guys would fill in the blanks for me.” 

She looked at the other two expectantly, but was met with silence. Arc had their arms folded and seemed to be pondering, or not. Kokonoka was avoiding Kaname’s gaze, but at the same time seemed to be casting glances at Archimedes, as if looking for cues. 

Finally, Archimedes spoke. “There is a great deal to understand concerning this whole situation, as you have surmised. I can assure you that you will be informed when the time is appropriate. Trying to comprehend more than you are ready for would have a compromising effect on your duty.” 

Kaname felt like she was being talked to by a lawyer or a school principal; saying a lot of things in order to say nothing at all. “Fine, fine. I get what I’m supposed to do now, at least. Wait for clues from Kokonoka’s visions and take careful steps accordingly in order to take the Ektroma down quickly and secure the Wonderpen.” 

“That is… well, yes, that’s exactly it.” Arc seemed a bit surprised at Kaname’s sudden lack of obstinacy.

“See? Believe it or not, I can do this ‘duty’, as you so put it. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to your better half.”

Archimedes paused a long moment more, trying to find anything else to forewarn Kaname about, but finally acquiesced and returned Shoki to his body. Once Kaname and Kokonoka helped him recover from his “fainting spell”, Kaname looked at them both eagerly.

“So, what more can you two tell me about this whole thing we got going? The more I know, the better I can fight these guys, I would think.” 

Kaname had been hoping that once Archimedes had been removed from the scene, the two mortal members of the ACRC would be willing to fill her in. But it was an unwelcome surprise to hear the silence in the room remain unbroken by this opportunity Kaname had seized. She noticed that this time it was Shoki glancing at Kokonoka, and upon seeing her stoic face, remained uncharacteristically quiet.

“Wait, really? Is there really nothing more you two can tell me? I thought the ACRC had some kinda connection to all this Kamen Rider stuff way before I got here. You two have been in the club since last semester right?”

Kokonoka nodded at her. “We can’t deny that connection. But as Archimedes expressed just before, the situation is exceedingly complex. A lot happened last semester, and it would do you only a disservice to try and explain it all to you in a way that might be misconstrued or misrepresented.”

Kaname figured that once again summed up into a fancy way of saying nothing. She turned her gaze on Shoki, sharpening it to the degree she found usually makes people want to yield information to her without her having to say much at all. She could definitely see him tense up, but he held out.

“Come on, Odakyuu. How is withholding information helpful for anyone, just cuz’ you’re afraid that someone might not ‘get it’? When has that ever stopped you from going on and on about ancient Roman senate rulings or philosophers or the migration patterns of aqua ducks?”

“Aqueducts. Save it, Shizu-san, there’s nothing I can tell you that would be of any use to you. I wasn’t ever directly involved with the things Ichiryuu-san and the others got up to with the other Kamen Rider before he…” Odakyuu lapsed into silence as he felt the waves of Kokonoka’s aura, usually refined and gentle like the rays of a spring morning, instantly freeze over.

The scariest part was that her expression and body posture remained nearly unchanged, her mouth still maintained a friendly, indulgent smile to match with her kind eyes… but that façade was all that remained of her usual geniality at this moment. Odaykuu and Kaname were painfully aware that a line had been crossed.

However, that was what Kaname had been hoping for. This was her chance and she couldn’t afford to be daunted. And the revelation was far too big to gloss over. “Hold on, the other Kamen Rider? Like, Kamen Rider Atlas? You guys were working with him? What are you talking about?”

“Kaname-san.” Kokonoka’s utterance of her name stayed Kaname, because her voice had lost its menacing demeanor and had returned to the voice that always caught her attention. And this time, it had a sad tone to it, one of almost pleading, and it soaked through the indignation that had been rising up within Kaname.

“I’m sorry. I really am, and please understand it’s neither of our wishes to keep anything from you. For the moment, we are in agreement with what Archimedes believes is best. Please be assured that there will be a proper time for you to know more; I think Archimedes is simply waiting for you to become more experienced in your role.”  
The indignation dried out quickly, and rose up again. “I don’t care what Arc thinks is best, hopefully I’ve made that clear by now. They don’t trust me, and that’s their problem. But what I’m getting out of this is that you guys don’t trust me either.”

It was one of those classic lines that you know you’ll regret saying even as it’s coming out of your mouth, but it’s too late to swallow back. The accusation hung heavily in the air between Kaname and the other ACRC members, and she realized that was her only chance to leave before she ran the chance of messing things up even more.

“Look, don’t sweat it. I’ll catch you guys later.” Kaname retreated from the room before she could hear any objections, although she was painfully aware that none followed her. While setting an aggressive pace down the hallway, Kaname had to admit that she couldn’t relish her indignation with a clean conscience. Objectively speaking, of course they didn’t trust her. Kokonoka and Shoki had literally known her less than a week, and Kaname hadn’t exactly spent that week trying to make a good impression. Asking them to trust her was simply unfair. And yet, did that cancel out the unfairness of them expecting her to be their hero-of-the-week with a pull-string transformer on her waist whenever they needed her?

As her flared temper began to subside, Kaname realized this was one of those situations her old therapist had talked about, where she (supposedly) used anger to conceal her more vulnerable emotions, stupid bullshit like being hurt by her friends or pushed away due to her attitude. (The therapist had also told her something similar about excessive swearing, but Kaname hadn’t given a flying fuck about any of that horse-shit-crap.) She didn’t want to be on the outs with her new friends forever, which would mean having to apologize at some point, another one of her “Making Acceptable Progress” skills. Hey guys, sorry I demanded you tell me all your secrets after chucking the pen that makes people crazy into the river. And also I still don’t wanna be the successor of the guy you apparently spent all last semester working with. Sorry for that too. Also sorry Odakyuu for taking all your weird-ass figurines of ancient historical figures off your display shelf and arranging them into a pro wrestling scene. Oh wait, he hadn’t actually found out about that yet.

Whatever. Things would be fine tomorrow; maybe she’d even end up running into the new Ektroma on the way home, as these things seemed to happen less-than-coincidentally, and kicking its ass and getting the Wonderpen and then she’d bring it back and they’d admit how cool she was, and how integral to the club she was, right up until she got the belt off and then she’d magically not be needed at all. In any case, she had been through enough with Yasuda that she knew she didn’t want anyone else uninvolved with this craziness to get their hands on a Wonderpen. While it might not be in the ACRC’s possession, the bottom of a deep river was the next best place for it.

 

~~ End of Part 1 ~~


	10. Myth 2:2

There was only one major river that flowed directly through Yuon City. Its source started somewhere in the snow-capped mountains of central Hokkaido and brought its cold spring water all the way down to the ocean. The river split the city cleanly in two parts, with three large bridges for cars and several smaller pedestrian bridges arcing over the water like stitches trying to hold a bulging seam together. This wasn’t one of your languid, concrete-encrusted waterways in the Tokyo metro area. Everyone in Yuon knew to respect the river and its deceptively-deep current. And with their respect, there was also admiration for its beauty and serenity; there was no more popular place in the city to ride bikes, jog, or fly kites on a mild summer day.

Of course, there were always miscreants who thought little of polluting the river with their trash, intentionally or not. One such miscreant with a Black Cat jacket had hurled an ornate pen as far as she could into the middle of it, and had walked off after being satisfied with the small sploosh she had seen from the shore. A few egrets had seen her and had made feeble attempts to dive for what they assumed was food. However, the depth of the river left it out of their reach. One particularly hungry fowl kept trying, until he was spooked off by a large form sliding along the river’s stony bottom. The other egrets hastened away from the underwater interloper as it made its way to shore, underneath a concrete overpass.

A humanoid figure strode out of the water, their spiny armor plates bristling like so many sea urchins. Once they had made landfall, they stopped to examine the Wonderpen they cradled delicately in their hand; despite being out of ink, the vessel captured their attention, with a feeling that nestled between longing and hunger.

“Nice little treasure you found there, Tethys.”

The watery warrior spun about at being suddenly addressed; their spines instantly stiffened, ready to attack.

The speaker was leaning against the concrete pylon of the bridge, arms folded, trying a little too hard to be nonchalant. This figure, too, was covered in an armored body-suit, but its visual accents were different from the sea-themed warrior. The newcomer’s suit was more streamlined, with sharp angles and hard edges melding together in meticulously-calculated geometric lines. They might have been a luxury car designer’s fever dream of a superhero. The most eye-catching feature of their outfit was the protrusions that rose off all the apexes of said angles and edges; their forms fractured apart like shattered stone, twisting about under some unseen pressure until they literally dissolved. The heat they produced at their terminals caused the air to slightly distort.

Upon recognizing who had caught them off guard, Tethys slightly relaxed their stance, but the tension within their muscles remained, and they kept their grip tight on the Wonderpen. They gave no response to the newcomer.

The crimson skulker’s laugh crackled in the air between them as they approached. “Sullen as ever. Not even a simple ‘Hello, Iapetus?’ Titans still have manners, y’know. Compliments are also welcomed. I’m partial to flattery about my general physique and devious cunning. Why choose brains or brawn when you can be both? I haven’t decided yet how I feel about praise given as part of desperate pleading for mercy, though…”

Iapetus, as they had identified themselves, seemed to be talking more for their own sake than for Tethys, who had turned away from them and started heading back towards the waterline. Even though they seemed to be preoccupied with their rant, a couple of swift steps brought them between Tethys and any means of quick escape.

“Hold up there. I was hoping to borrow that sweet little pen you got there, since you went to the trouble of fishing it out of the creek for me.”

Tethys made no other moves, but turned their head slightly towards Iapetus to address them. “It holds no use for you.”

“No shit. I wasn’t dragged through the primeval vortex yesterday. I’ve been staking out a new target. Based on the vessel the Wonderpen attached to last time, this new one should prove especially effective. Making lemonade out of lemons, as it were, given how pathetic that last host was. Which was your pick, I might add.”

Once again, there was a pause in the one-sided conversation in which Tethys indicated their displeasure through subtle but purposeful movements.

The limit of Iapetus’ patience had been quickly reached, and they slung out their hand towards Tethys, fingers twiddling. “Come on now. The sooner I can get the job done, the sooner you can get back to massaging Kronos’ feet or whatever the rest of you Titans do while he’s sequestered himself on campus.”

Tethys slowly raised their fist that clutched the Wonderpen; their body language indicated neither compliance with or defiance of Iapetus’ demand. They spoke again, with words that felt carefully chosen.

“Be wary of your insolence towards Our King.”

Iapetus scoffed and dropped their hand in exasperation. “No insolence intended, just speaking my mind. I have better things to do than wait hand-and-foot on a shadow that’s been nursing his wounds in some dark room of the admin building. It’s been over a month since his fight with Atlas. I’ve got enough on my plate as it is, I can’t exactly schedule a meeting with the Lord of World’s End after class whenever he demands it. But, I never miss an opportunity to prove my worth.”  
With that, Iapetus extended their hand again, and the heat vapors that trailed from their armor seemed to intensify, just a little bit.

Tethys held out a few seconds more, but they realized that the malicious joviality of Iapetus’ nature had been discarded like a cheap mask, revealing something even less pleasant. With a quick flip of their wrist, the Wonderpen sailed through the air and Iapetus snatched it. They twirled it around their fingers and the sinister air was gone in a flash, replaced instantly with their impish laughter.

“Much appreciated. Stay dry, Tethys.” They started sauntering away, but stopped after a few steps and turned to look back over their shoulder. “Y’know, I was thinking. This new Rider was always pretty quick to show up wherever the last Ektroma spawned on campus. Not only that, I’ve heard they’ve been seen with some kids that belonged to Atlas’ old crew. Putting two and two together, I’d say it’s pretty likely this new Kamen Rider is a Yuon U student…”

“That is a reasonable assumption.”

“Well then, given your particular role on that campus, there isn’t any chance you’d have some idea… some small inkling of who they might be? After all, I think most of us Titans know by now about your little intervention on behalf of our new Rider.” 

Iapetus allowed unspoken implications to hang between the two of them, letting them grow heavy, before Tethys spoke again.

“Their identity remains a mystery to us.They were unable to defeat an unevolved Ektroma. For now, the Kamen Rider is worth keeping alive, until we better understand the circumstances of their creation.”

Iapetus gave a derisive scoff. “Really now. Here I was hoping you’d offer up some kind of redemption for your blunder. One more fight was all it took for that new Rider to overcome the Ektroma at full power. Your watch-and-wait policy is going to come back to bite us, Tethys; you gotta nip those problems in the bud. I’ll be on my way now, I’ve got a nasty new Ektroma to create.”

They only got a few feet further, however, before they stopped again, this time by Tethys’ words, who had turned fully to face Iapetus as they made their exit.

“Be wary of your impatience as well, Iapetus. Lord Kronos and the rest of us will suffer any misfortune you incur.”

The vapors flared up around Iapetus once again. “My impatience is far less of a hazard than your incompetence, or the rest of the Titans’ meddling about. Avoid that misfortune by staying out of my way.”  
Iapetus strode away, but continued speaking even as they passed out of earshot. 

“None of those other spineless Titans are going to beat me to the punch. Not only will I create an Ektroma stronger than any of theirs… But I’ll also find out who that punk-ass new Kamen Rider is. It won’t matter how strong they are then… Once they’re unmasked, there’ll be nowhere else to hide.”

-#

“It’s weird, Shizu-san… I can’t find you anywhere.”

“Look lower, probably.”

“I am…”

“Like, really lower.”

“Like I said, I—oh. Yea, there you are. Wow.”

Kaname uncovered her eyes to stare at the grid of names posted on the board in front of her; the results of the first real tests she had taken at the college level. Yuon Univeristy held to a sadistic tradition of publicly posting all exam scores in the main hallways of the academic buildings; while it likely cut down on administrative busywork, it was surely also a way to shame those whose names ended up below eye-level. Or in Kaname’s case, having to stoop down slightly. Hikaru had done her the honor of finding her name on the sheets, while Kaname wasn’t even going to bother; she had a strong, specific distaste for print-outs that quantified her inadequacies. Her sheepish friend had finally convinced her to let him check for her, managing to let her believe that her score couldn’t be that low.

“And it’s not! You’re not last, not by a long shot.”

“I mean… I seem to be just barely above that chunk of names with 0’s next to them, of people who probably haven’t bothered going to class once yet, and are gonna drop out before the semester ends.”

“Just trying to find the silver lining, Shizu-san…”

Kaname sighed and crossed her arms behind her head. “The silver lining is that it’s over. And these stupid papers are gonna be crumpled up in a landfill in a few days.”

“One would hope they’re at least recycled…”

“Sure. Into toilet paper. Or a newspaper. That animals piss on.”

That got a laugh out of Hikaru, and was enough to make him drop the subject. Kaname wanted to keep it dropped, so she scanned the rows for his name.

“Yasuda, Yasuda, Yasuda… Man, there are like ten of you in this uni alone. Get a less common family name, bud.”

Hikaru just shrugged, comfortable now with Kaname’s verbal roughhousing, and pointed at in incline. “I believe I’m up there.”

“Oh ho. Double digits. Look at you, egghead. And the top Yasuda of them all. Number one. Now you can force all the rest of ‘em to change their names.”

Hikaru waved off her jokes, but Kaname could tell he genuinely enjoyed being praised for his intellect; while the effects of the Wonderpen couldn’t be counted out, she had a feeling that a bit of self-confidence was doing just fine in place of the mind-altering hypno-weapon. She was proud of him. And that allowed her to not feel even a little bit sorry for herself.

“Now that’s interesting.” Hikaru’s eyes had climbed all the way to the top of the board, where the names of the top 10 scorers had the honor of being printed in bold font. Kaname recognized none of them, and she wasn’t surprised in the least. If someone was that invested in beating out all the other super-smart people that managed to get into this university, surely they must spend every waking moment of their time with their nose in a book… or they were just naturally brilliant and wouldn’t deign to hang out with a ne’er-do-well like her.

“What are we lookin’ at? You’re going to have to elaborate.”

Yasuda pointed to the chart’s apex. “No. 1 of this exam group. Koji Katsui. And No. 2 beneath him, Saiten Ryoto.”

“…Still not following.”

“It’s just that I’ve never seen Saiten not in the no. 1 spot. He’s one of the school’s brightest stars—stellar grades in all of his courses, well-connected in social circles, and president of the Student Union, up until this semester at least.”

“That’s an ominous way to finish that sentence.”

“He hasn’t been seen on campus at all this semester. There’ve been rumors that last semester burned him out and he was going to take medical leave. But the fact that he’s sat for tests means that’s not true.”

“So… this guy basically isn’t going to classes but is still somehow getting no. 2 in test rankings. Man, if I “burned out” as hard as him, I’d be doing way better for myself.”

Hikaru shrugged. “I don’t know the circumstances. Geniuses do exist, after all. But I guess I’m also a bit surprised that Koji-sempai was the one to beat him. He’s usually a pretty high performer—captain of the soccer team and all-around party animal, so he can’t let his academics slip too much. But he also doesn’t seem like one who would sacrifice any of that to get top marks.”

It got Kaname wondering too, but she quickly pushed those thoughts away. As Hikaru had implied, everyone had their own circumstances, and she wasn’t getting paid to care about anyone else’s. Besides, the strange situation of someone’s academic abilities increasing inexplicably reminded her too much of the hot water she had just pulled Yasuda out of. What goes in the river, stays in the river damn it!

Kaname picked up her backpack and started walking off. “Don’t pay it too much mind. In the end we’re spending our time standing and gawking at other people who are probably studying right now.”

Hikaru pulled his own stuff up and hurried after her. “So you’re actually saying you want to go study?”

“Hell no. Don’t lump me with those brainiacs. Besides, I’m just not as good at studying as they are. They could probably learn more in one hour than I can in ten. They were smart enough to pass this school’s entrance exam, after all.”

“As were you!”

“What? Naw, I didn’t take the entrance exam. Or at least, not the one that most people take.”

“Excuse me?”

“I guess I didn’t mention it before?” As they walked, Kaname illustrated her vague and muddled descriptions with equally-obtuse hand motions. “Because the next center exam isn’t until January, I would’ve had to wait ‘till then. Which I wanted to do, but apparently because my dad went to Yuon U way back when, I was eligible for some weird alternative application track. It took hours! I had to look at pictures with a bunch of random shapes and colors on it and say how it made me feel. By the end it was always some version of “annoyed”. And they asked a lot of hypothetical questions, like ‘what-if’ scenarios, and sometimes they even turned out all the lights and played strange sound samples and flashed light patterns. Man, I felt downright sick by the end of it all. But it turns out that I passed whatever freaky test that was! I guess I’ve got one of those ‘alternative learning styles’, y’know? Something about ‘multiplication intelligence’?”

“Multiple Intelligences. That, uh… that all sounds absolutely insane. I’ve never heard of any kind of entrance exam being anything close to that. It sounds more like an initiation for a cult.”

“Huh.” Kaname wasn’t quite sure how worried she was supposed to be at the aghast look on her friend’s face. “Well, you could make the argument that certain parts of the uni experience are pretty cult-like. And aren’t there some old universities that do have actual cults? Maybe my dad was in one of ‘em! Maybe they just haven’t given me the instructions on where I’m supposed to meet for my initiation yet. I wonder if I gave ‘em the wrong email.”

Kaname’s laughter at her own joke was joined by Hikaru’s, who sounded less than convinced.

“Hey come on, I’m kidding. Don’t think about it too much, that’s the way to get through life without dying of stress, Yasuda buddy. I wouldn’t want to join some dumb secret society anyway. Not a fan of big robes and I would never remember all the passwords.”

Hikaru’s laugh at this felt more genuine, so Kaname decided it was safe to move on from the topic. Despite what she had said, she had been pretty freaked out by the whole ordeal for a few days afterwards; pretty much everything she knew about college life was drawn from what she had seen on TV dramas, which had evidently cut that part out of the story. But after being on campus for a few days, she realized the dramas had been pretty accurate after all, maybe just with less tangled webs of romance and deadly betrayal. There was still time though, the semester was young.

As the two of them reached the front doors of the building, Hikaru didn’t turn off at his usual place towards the library.

“I’m gonna head over to my friend Yuuto’s place. The one I told you about, who didn’t get into Yuon U last year. He’s a ronin now, and he’s been studying to prep for next year’s entrance exams. I’m sure he’ll get in next time, but the ronin life can be pretty isolating, especially when your other friends are off at university. He’s been wanting to hang out for weeks, and now that the first wave of tests are over I definitely owe him a visit.”

“Right on.” Kaname was glad to hear that the unfortunate situation that Hikaru had told her about while under the influence of the Wonderpen wasn’t still a source of stress for him. “Welp, I’m headed home then. The long way. Man, I forgot about the bike ‘till just now…”

“Do you think it’ll be fixed soon?”

“Hopefully. My mom’s old buddies are pretty good with small-engine stuff. Not that my mom isn’t, but the two of them have plenty of time on the hands as well. Ol’ Sodaigomi will be back up and wheezing in no time.”

“Glad to hear it. See you tomorrow!”

\--#

~~ END OF PART 2~~


	11. Myth 2:3

“It’s completely done for.”

“Dead as a doornail.”

“Truly shocking it’s run for this long.”

“Probably for the best it won’t run anymore.”

“Coulda been a nasty accident.”

“A real deathtrap!”

“Alright, alright! I get it, Urusai!” Kaname waved off the alternating onslaught from coming from the two old men that she had referred to by a single name.

One of them (Uruto Jiro) was lean and wiry, with a tall, square face and skin like wood reclaimed from the sea. The other (Saizen Jiro) was squat and solid, his eyes and mouth both bulging like a bullfrog’s. Either of them on their own was quite unremarkable and hardly distinguishable from any other Japanese ojiisan, but when matched together their bodies and personalities seemed to complete each other and made them more aesthetically pleasing in every strange sense of the word. They were like two ugly vases that became no less ugly when arranged together, but anyone could tell they made a matching set. They had known each other since they were children and had grown up together over decades, and had become so naturally anchored together in everyone’s minds that even their names cleaved together, as Urusai. It appropriately doubled as what many people ended up shouting at them when the men were too eager to give unsolicited advice.

At the moment Kaname was with them in the garage of Hephaestus (conveniently connected to the Shizu family house); all three of them were staring at the sad heap of machined parts that had been Sodaigomi (and still more or less was; the line between “functioning motorcycle” and “refuse” was as thin as its brake pads). To their credit, Urusai had tried their best to fix it at Masaki’s request, but the more they took apart, the less wanted to go back together. They had concluded that it was the bike’s way of saying it was ready for the great freeway in the sky.  
After some indignant complaining that felt a bit like grieving for the old but reliable hunk of junk, Kaname had realized it was time to let go. The main problem now was how she was going to be getting to school for the rest of the semester. The bus wasn’t a bad backup, but it was also inconvenient, crowded, and decidedly less cool than riding a motorcycle.

“What about borrowing Masaki-chan’s truck? She doesn’t use it every day.”

“Or you could buy an old beater of your own, once you save up the cash.”

“We know a guy who could cut ya a deal.”

Kaname shrugged. “I don’t have my full driver’s license, only a motorcycle license…”

“Wait, don’t you only have a license for 125cc?”

“That’s what I recall. This last bike was definitely 400cc or more…”

“Listen, it’s never been a problem! I’ve known how to drive a 400cc perfectly well since I was 15, and I’m actually responsible on the roads, unlike some of the shady characters you guys hang out with…”

“She’s got you boys there!” Masaki swung her head around the half-opened garage door and grinned at the three who had been arguing.

“They’re your friends too, y’know, mom…” Kaname gave her an eyebrow, but she didn’t load the statement with any ill intent. Masaki’s biker gang days were long past, even before Goro had passed away. The only connections she had to them now were through people like Urusai, who had also hung up their jackets before Kaname had even been born. That wasn’t to say she couldn’t make some phone calls to some useful people when the situation required it, however. She rarely ever talked about those times, but Kaname had a feeling that her mother still had a stack or favors hidden away somewhere.

Masaki tapped her boot on Sodaigomi’s remains. “Looks like this old girl’s ready for a nice quiet scrapheap. I’m mostly just thankful it didn’t fall apart with you riding on it.”

“Yeah, well, what am I supposed to do now? Sodaigomi was the only spare motorcycle the shop had.”

“Until just today! Come on and help me with this.” Masaki was at the garage door again, pulling it up to reveal the company flatbed parked outside. A tarp tied down over several large mounds in the back. “Not a bad haul today, found an engine that could be used to resuscitate that moped out back, got my hands on a few chrome parts I’ve been missing for awhile as well. Oh, and this thing…”

“What IS that… Mom oh my god”

Kaname’s mouth dropped open as she dropped the tarp that she had just yanked free. Despite the deep scratches and layer of dirt, the bold accents of crimson and chrome stood out defiantly, like an animal bearing its battle scars. Once cleaned up and given a little TLC, it would look almost as good as new. Kaname could already hear the engine growling in her mind, resonating through her body.

Masaki hopped up onto the truck bed to release the ties. “Like I said! Funny coincidence, huh? Lose a motorcycle, gain a motorcycle.”

“Mom… I don’t think this is just any motorcycle. I’m pretty sure… uh, I’m pretty sure this is—was, the Kamen Rider’s bike.”

The revelation had surprisingly little effect on the adults around Kaname. Masaki raised her eyebrows and she looked it over. “You think? I don’t really remember what it looked like, they didn’t show him riding it much when he got covered by the news…”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure. It matched his suit. This is the same make and model too.”

By this time, Urusai had shuffled over to take a closer look as well.

“I think Kaname-kun’s right. We remember talking with a guy in Hakodate who was one of those Kamen Rider otaku types, had lotsa fan pics of the bike…”

“Masaki-chan, what a find! No matter how much you paid for it, I bet you got a killer deal if it was being sold at a junk auction!”

“Once you get it verified by an expert, you could turn it around for a good profit!”

“Hell no!” Kaname had leapt up onto the truck bed and tried to squeeze herself into the space between the bike and Urusai. “You can’t just sell it off! This is the old Kamen Rider’s bike you’re talking about!”

The others looked at her bemused. “Didn’t know you were such a big Kamen Rider fan, Kaname-kun…”

“I’m not! It just feels… it feels like…” It felt like fate, Kaname was afraid to admit. And she absolutely hated the fact that she had to defend that point, since the large part of her wanted nothing more than to sink the bike in the river and deny ever having seen it. But, for the very current time being, she was the Kamen Rider. And for a significantly longer time, she still needed a working motorcycle.

“It feels like it would be a waste to get rid of it, when Sodaigomi just broke down. Mom, can I please just use this one?”

Urusai began to protest to Masaki, so Kaname begrudgingly sacrificed her honor just a bit more and gave her mother “the look”. It was a look that had gone into hiding for most of Kaname’s tumultuous teen years, back when she’d rather dive into a fast-running river than rely on her mom for anything. It was a slightly softer, slightly quieter Kaname, peeking out from behind the hardened, thorny shell she had wrapped herself in for years and wasn’t ready to grow out of yet.

Masaki saw it. After a moment’s hesitation, she sighed. “Alright. I guess letting you drive this thing around means less trouble for me in the end... you’re a real pain in the ass when you can’t figure out how to transport yourself places. But, in exchange, you need to actually schedule and take your 400cc license test. Despite its size I figured Sodaigomi couldn’t put out much more power than a 125cc anyways… But this one isn’t just wishful thinking on a pair of wheels. As your mama I can only let you be so stupid, Kaname.”

“You got it.” Kaname let Masaki get her end of the deal, a parenting moment that didn’t devolve into a senseless, bratty argument. With her mother’s assistance she got the bike down off the truck and wheeled into the garage; the glaring overhead lights weren’t doing the paint job any favors. Everything non-aesthetic about it, however, quickly proved to be in good working order. Kaname set to work on scrubbing off the topmost layer of grime with some shop rags. It wasn’t imperative that it be clean before riding it to school tomorrow, but it was as good an excuse as any to avoid looking at her homework.

Kaname’s phone had buzzed while perched on a nearby toolkit, but she had ignored it for a few good minutes while her hands were covered in bike grit and grease. As she passed by she noticed a mail notification from Hikaru.

 _Dear Shizu-San_  
_Very sorry to bother you_  
_My friend Yuuto was acting rather strange today_  
_I thought it was due to normal stress_  
_But when I was leaving his house I think I saw some kind of monster lurking nearby_  
_It reminded me of the one that possessed me_  
_So I’m worried it might be connected to Yuuto’s situation_  
_Anyway, I hope you are having a pleasant evening_  
_Yours Truly,_

__

__

_Yasuda Hikaru_

Kaname groaned and snatched up her helmet. The boy could probably be getting disemboweled and still manage to include all the proper politeness and salutations that no one expects in long-form messages anymore. Kaname made a mental note to also give Hikaru her phone number once she got there and hopefully found him still in one wimpy piece.

The sound of a revving engine brought Masaki and Urusai back to the garage door, after having retreated into the house for a round of beers.

“Kaname, are you going out now? Isn’t it kinda late?”

“Not for long! I gotta check on a friend. I’ll be back soon.”

With that, Kaname backed herself out onto the street and let out the throttle, laying down a nice patch of rubber outside their garage. Masaki sighed and headed back inside.

Jiro patted her on the back and smiled while Jiro handed her a fresh can of beer. “Don’t worry yourself too much about the young cat, Masaki-chan. She’s just excited to get wheels underneath her again.”

“Who wouldn’t be, after puttering along on that broken toy for so long.”

“I’m not worried,” Masaki assured them, and herself. “Something’s changed about her since she started the semester. It sounds like she’s been having a rocky start, but when she mentioned her friend just then, I think she really meant it this time. Makes me happy, it was definitely something I was hoping for, but not as quickly as this.”

“It was a gamble, sending Kaname-kun off to university, but it seems like it’s paying off.”

Masaki hmmed in agreement. Her thoughts took her back to the situation six months ago that had made this all possible in the first place. It had been late spring; Kaname had been out of high school for one full year. She had been helping at the shop intermittently at times when the extra help was needed, but those times had been growing scarcer in the past few years. Masaki would have been worried about Kaname using all her free time to hang with a bad crowd, but the girl’s own antisocial personality helped mitigate that. Instead she mostly bummed around the house, clearly bored but not admitting it, or went out for long walks or drives around the city.

Masaki’s promise to her late husband had been weighing heavily on her mind during that time. That if they ever managed to get the money, they would use it to send Kaname to Yuon U. This had been Goro’s dying wish five years prior, but at the time her father had only known thirteen-year-old Kaname—loud, hyperactive at times, but generally affable and content. He hadn’t been around to see her turn into the aloof, snarling eighteen-year-old girl that had pushed everyone away, including Masaki, and who had just managed to crawl out of her high school clutching a diploma. To say Yuon U was beyond her prospects was a kind, diplomatic way of putting it; at least, it was how Kaname’s advising teacher had put it to Masaki during their final counseling interview.

Masaki had tried to bring up to Kaname the prospect of community college, or a night school for technical certifications. The loans would be difficult to manage, but it was feasible. Kaname had shut down the conversation each time and Masaki had finally stopped trying, despite her conviction she thought she had possessed. Kaname wanted to work in the shop, which had been prospering just enough to keep Masaki and Kaname afloat through the years; Kaname didn’t know that without the added income from Goro’s life insurance, certain ends wouldn’t have met. Thus, for a good while, the promise had been put aside—Masaki had assuaged her guilt with the knowledge that its financial condition couldn’t be fulfilled.

However, just a bit later in the spring, circumstances had changed.

A bike had rolled up to the garage door of Hephaestus. Then another. And five more. Masaki had panicked a bit upon seeing dozens of choppers arranging themselves on the street outside her house; the matching jackets and gaudy decorations on the bikes identified them to everyone as bosozoku. Fortunately for her, if not for the poor unwitting neighbors, they were the same bosozoku that Goro had ridden with back in the day. They had gotten involved in some rough “business” in Sapporo and were having to lay low for a while, meaning they weren’t able to take their bikes to any of their usual places in the city for repairs. Despite it having been half a decade, those who had been close to Goro in the bosozoku felt it would be reasonable for them to hit up his widow at her understaffed shop in a moderately respectable neighborhood for repairs on twenty-plus bikes, or so they had said with an almost-appropriate level of supplication.

Masaki had been half a breath from telling them to hit the bricks when the promise came back into her mind. This was an opportunity. She had begun a slightly-overdramatic display of considering their request, being sure to emphasize how much trouble it would be for her, a poor single mother scraping by in her tiny little shop for the sake of her, _and their old pal Goro’s_ only daughter, _whom he had cared for more than anything else in the world…_ Just when she had been able to tell they were reaching the limits of their patience, she had agreed to the job and dropped her price on their heads. It had been higher than what they were expecting.

Some of the members, the ones that hadn’t been around to know Goro when he was with them, had started to protest. They had gotten a bit loud and a bit gruff, as bosozoku boys tended to do when their very quaint reserve of social graces ran dry. The older members, those that had known Goro, and by extension Masaki, and who had come to this meeting with a pretty good idea of how it would all go down, sat back and watched with timid amusement. They had all had great respect for Goro, who had been both tough as nails and clever as a snake, loyal as a hound and vicious as a wolverine. The wide range of his personality, encompassing kindness for his friends and threats for his enemies, had made him a distinguished member of the crew. Goro had given his respect freely to those who earned it; his obedience had never been gained through fear. The gang had admired him for that.

And then Goro had met Masaki.

There had never been a time when an emotion stronger than love had directed any of his actions towards his wife at any point in their relationship; he had fallen for her the same day they had met, as he had been fond of saying. There had been fights, there had been anger, there had been confusion, as with any seasoned relationship.

And, in brief moments when Masaki had reached the limits of her patience… there had been fear.

That had been a new experience for Goro.

Masaki had always taken the utmost care to never show that side of herself in raising her daughter. It was a product of her wild youth, one that didn’t serve her well anymore once she had found people she loved and cared for. During their worst fights, when Goro had been at his most stubborn, it had been useful to pull back the curtain just a little bit, to reveal the hannya mask. It had never failed to get results.

Once the newer members had shriveled back into their chairs, silent with cold sweat on their necks, they had unanimously agreed to the all-too-reasonable price that Masaki had so generously offered them. After all, it was for the sake of their dear deceased friend’s only daughter.

And so, in just over a month of hectic, greasy work, with the help of Kaname and couple other local part-timers, the job had been completed and the money in her hands. The application had been sent in, and lo and behold, they had been told that there was a special application process available to Kaname for children of alumni (despite Goro having only spent a couple years at the university, and not actually graduated… but money was money). She had been accepted to start in the upcoming fall semester, and once Kaname had finally been convinced through the masterful application of guilt concerning her beloved father’s last wishes, Masaki had felt wholly accomplished.

She came back to the present, looking at the bottom of her beer and listening to Urusai jawing on together about typical old-man things; mahjong, the price of cigarettes, horse racing, ex-wives. Her life was changing too, because Kaname’s was changing. But Kaname was at the wheel, and all Masaki could do was be there for Kaname as much as Kaname would allow her to be. Masaki knew that her daughter already had secrets she needed to keep, and she just hoped that Kaname had found friends that she could trust enough to share them with.

\--#

~~End of Part 3~~


	12. Myth 2:4

Kaname rolled up to Hephaestus a couple hours later. She had left with the intention of continuing her cleaning work when she got back, but now she just parked it next to the pile of Sodaigomi and headed into the house for a quick shower and then bed. It was too late to do homework at this point, so there was no further need for her to procrastinate anyway.

She had gotten over to Yasuda’s location in record time; despite it having some significant cosmetic damage and being badly in need of a tune-up, this bike was in a whole different class from Sodaigomi. It was like mounting a young, untamed stallion after years of plodding along on a horse with one foot in the glue factory. The new bike was ornery and difficult to handle at times, but it seemed to sense the intent behind her slightest movements. Once she had had time to properly bond with it, it would likely settle down and become the feisty-yet-well-disciplined racehorse it had been bred to be. (At least that’s how Kaname imagined it. She had very little context for the horse metaphor she was trying to make.)

Kaname had met up with Yasuda at a train station a few minutes away from Yuuto’s house, from where he had just come. The boy had seemed shaken up, a bit more than he usually did from simply living his day-to-day life. He had come to visit his friend after school, as he had mentioned earlier, and had received his initial shock upon seeing his friend for the first time in a couple months. Rather than being deeply absorbed in his extracurricular studies as a ronin, Yuuto had apparently given up altogether on the prospect of applying to university again the following year.

He had instead invested all of his time and energy into producing a manga that he had come up with an idea for just recently. His sudden conviction on the matter had been especially surprising, Hikaru had said, particularly due to the fact that he had never known Yuuto to read more than the odd issue of Shonen Jump. But here he was, claiming that he would be the next Tezuka or Oda with the brilliant storyline and characters that had come to him as vividly as a dream. Yuuto’s parents, naturally, figured he had lost his mind, that he was suffering some kind of mental collapse from self-induced stress. They weren’t sure what to do about it, but Hikaru’s presence had brought them some sort of comfort, and possibly the hope that Hikaru could talk some sense back into him.

Hikaru himself wasn’t sure he could realize that hope. Yuuto was apparently never one to do things by halves; when he started something, he would work and work and work until he had accomplished his goal. And despite just barely missing the bar for Yuon U’s entrance exam, he was still the most brilliant person Hikaru had ever met. Despite the unknown motive, if anyone could decide to suddenly drop everything and create a smash-hit manga from scratch, it might just be Yuuto.

But that motive was the missing piece of the case. No matter how much Hikaru had tried to pick Yuuto’s brain about why he had suddenly changed course, Yuuto had just spun the topic of conversation back towards the colorful mind-collage of his manga ideas. Hikaru had gotten the sense that it was a topic Yuuto didn’t want to address… which meant in order to help him, it would have to be addressed one way or another.

The mystery had developed further once Hikaru had said his goodbyes and had just left Yuuto’s family’s house. Hikaru had caught a glimpse of a large mass shifting about in the alleyway next door. He enjoyed confrontation about as much as a cat enjoys a hot-spring bath, so he had quickened his pace towards the station a few blocks away, keeping his eyes forward. However, the thing had seemed to be stalking him; whenever he had passed by a side-street or a dark corner, he would see something moving through it; something big, and long, almost like a giant snake. He had finally broken into a run and had ducked into a nearby convenience store, where he had sent the panicked-yet-politely-formatted email to Kaname.

Ten minutes later, directly after hearing all of this, Kaname had sent Hikaru on his way and had headed back in the direction of Yuuto’s house. The monstrous shape Hikaru has seen, plus the sudden change in attitude of someone he was closely connected to was easy math that added up to the presence of a Wonderpen, and an Ektroma. And now here was the Kamen Rider, just the factor needed to simplify the equation. (She wasn’t sure her math metaphor was any stronger than her horse one, but her calc class was the one she skipped the least, if that was worth anything)

As she had been slowly cruising down the same road Hikaru had taken, Kaname had also sensed the lurking presence. However, she wasn’t one to turn tail and run. The Calliope belt had been activated, the suit donned, and her spear retrieved out of thin air. However, it seemed that despite its size, the stalker wasn’t looking for a fight; as soon as Kaname had confronted the shadow, it had twisted itself about and fled the area. A few blocks later, she had found it watching her again, so again she had tried to attack, and yet it had disappeared just as quickly.

Although she wasn’t exactly spoiling for a fight with a new Ektroma, Kaname had a vested interest in keeping this encounter short and sweet. She had decided to lure it closer this time, pretending to be oblivious after she felts its eyes upon her once more. She had continued slowly through the suburban maze of residential houses, making sure not to pull too far ahead, but also not to slow down enough to give anything away. It grew bolder, as she had hoped, and finally Kaname had taken a quick turn which emboldened it to follow too closely. Out came the spear, and before it had realized the trap, Kaname had lunged and stabbed straight through its serpentine body.

The monster had hissed and writhed about, and Kaname had finally gotten a good look at its form. While “a giant snake” had been a pretty apt description, it had appeared to be covered in scales or spines that moved about in harmony, creating a sickening undulating effect. It had also had four horn-like protrusions jutting from his head, which Kaname had quickly noted and endeavored to stay away from. Before she could retrieve her spear and go for the killing blow, however, the Ektroma had managed to free itself by splitting its entire body into two parts from where the spear had skewered it. Its slit lengths had flowed like water as it had coiled around itself with unnerving speed and flexibility. Kaname had managed to collect her wits and take up her spear again, but it had already disappeared into the shadows, and it was staying away this time.

After nearly an hour of exhaustive searching, covering each street in the suburb three times over, Kaname had had to conclude that the creature was determined not to show its face again tonight, and figured she should leave before the cops got alerted to some weirdo on a motorcycle making rounds of a quiet neighborhood. She had sent Hikaru a report by email and they had agreed to meet up at school tomorrow to discuss it further.

Kaname had taken significantly longer to get home as she meandered along the scenic route, lost in thought. The previous Ektroma had been aggressive each time she had encountered it, ready to attack her and any hapless civilians nearby. This new Ektroma was excessively cautious, and hadn’t seemed at all interested in putting up a fight. The last Ektroma, identified as a cyclops, had also gained some freakish power of speech during their final battle, acting with a cruel intelligence bent on destruction. Kaname hadn’t sensed any of that kind of sapience from the serpentine Ektroma, nor had she noticed the effects of Pandora’s Box turning time and space around her into a fever dream.

Back in her own bed, Kaname stared at the hazy shape of a full moon through the gap in her curtains. All the evidence together convinced her that this Ektroma had yet to gain true power; it was probably still newly-formed, and the person in possession of the Wonderpen hadn’t yet suffered its full malignance. There was still time. Kaname was better prepared this time around, and it was pretty clear who the Wonderpen’s victim was. She would wrap up this case before it even started, without needing to rely on the ACRC. Maybe once they saw how much she could handle all on her own, they’d finally acknowledge her to be deserving of whatever secrets they wanted to keep.

\--#

Kaname pulled into the parking lot of the university with a little time to spare, for once. Her new bike was far zippier than Sodaigomi, so she was rewarded with a few extra minutes in her schedule. Now that she realized this time disparity, however, she knew she would be using it from then on to hit the snooze button one more time. But for today, she figured she would seek out Hikaru and try to compare notes from last night.

While she didn’t want to outright avoid them, she wasn’t keen on meeting up with the other ACRC members until she had definitively dealt with the Ektroma (not to mention her fear of confrontation regarding the awkward way she last left the club). Confrontation was a funny thing; when a situation called for emotional honesty and clear communication, one small part of Kaname’s conscience was vastly outnumbered by her other instincts assuring her that a quick dip into a pool of writhing snakes was a far preferable option. On the other hand, when confrontation involved threatening to punch someone in the face, which then either meant she won the argument or got to punch someone in the face-- those were the kinds of social situations that provided Kaname with a level of ego satisfaction that, apparently, was not conducive to her character (or so her old therapist had claimed).

She was halfway across the quad when a small group of people caught her attention nearby. She could feel the tension as soon as she looked over; it was the kind of situation that could give a person “bad news” vibes even at a distance. A member of the campus cleaning staff, as identified by her grey jumpsuit, had been trying to unobtrusively do her job of picking up the trash surrounding a bench on the edge of the quad. It was clear that the popularity of said bench resulted in a lot of careless students ditching their garbage nearby. At this time, the bench was occupied by three young men, all wearing team jackets of the Yuon U soccer club. Because they had nothing better to do, likely because none of them were interesting enough to entertain each other, they took to the tradition that many asshole boys do of harassing someone of lower social status. The leader of the group, smarmily acting as though he was “helping” the cleaning staff was instead bouncing wads of trash around so that she had to work harder to retrieve them, while the others looked on and giggled like the idiots they were.

Kaname was glad to find the “good” kind of confrontation available to take her mind off the impending “bad” confrontation that awaited her. She squared her shoulders and marched over; a few people who had been dawdling nearby, just far enough away to not feel morally obligated to intervene, scattered before her upon seeing that she was the fire about to meet the grease. She didn’t have a clear plan for how she intended to handle the situation (she tended to let her mouth lead, until it was ready to tag out with her fists). But she spied one of the crunched-up wrappers that the boss boy had kicked right in her path, and also saw that said boss boy currently had his back to her.

“Whoops, sorry ‘bout that, I missed again, man I’m so out of practice!” The boy sent another ball of trash sailing above the cleaning woman’s head, and watched it land in the low branches of a nearby tree. “Jeez, I’m embarrassed. C’mon lads, how about we head back to the soccer field and get some goals in.” They chortled their agreement and the leader headed to pick up his bag when a ball of garbage hit him squarely in the ear. He whipped about to see a short, punky girl sneering at him, lazily swinging the leg she had just used to kick with.

“Whoops, sorry ‘bout that. I figured since you boys are playing soccer you’d be ready for a header.”

The assaulted boy’s two cronies jumped up in unison, well-trained in their role as entourage bullies. The leader squared his jacket and ran his hands over his hair, making sure the spray had held everything firm. “The hell you think you’re doing? You’re acting like you’re trying to start something.”

“You guys already had something started; just thought the three of you together might want more than one woman to pick on.”

“We weren’t—it wasn’t—look, do you even know who I am?”

Kaname rolled her eyes. “I’d assume you’re Koji, unless you happened to have stolen his jacket.”

Koji(?) glanced down at his name emblazoned on his sleeve. “You’re a snarky one. Freshman, I’m guessing? You obviously have a lot to learn about who’s who here, otherwise I doubt you’d make the idiotic choice of messing with one of Yuon’s most premier students, captain of the soccer team, Koji Katsui!”

Kaname bowed in mock deference. “Oh forgive me, Katsui-sama. I didn’t recognize your shining personage from afar; alas, mistook you for some loser who strokes his pathetic ego by tormenting the uni’s cleaning staff.”

His name suddenly popped up to the surface of her memory, along with a deep sense of irritation at having seen it at the number-one spot of the university-wide exam scores. How could someone like this Earl of Dipshits possibly have enough spare brain cells to count higher than the score of a soccer match? Appearances were deceiving though, so perhaps this guy was just an unrivaled master of disguise. In any case, she’d never give him the satisfaction of knowing his reputation did indeed proceed him. 

At this point, a small crowd was starting to gather to watch the stand-off. Koji’s grandstanding and Kaname’s sharp retorts were both effective at drawing attention. It seemed to Kaname, going by the look on Koji’s face, that he knew as well as she did that the true winner of this kind of confrontation was decided by the audience’s favor. And right now, the audience was seeing a no-name freshman girl standing her ground against the supposedly-premier student team-captain Koji. When the appeal to his local fame hadn’t made her back down, all he could do was bluster when Kaname swiftly threw anything he said back in his face. As things stood now, he had a lot to lose. 

“What’s your name?”

“What? It’s Shizu. Shizu Kaname.”

“What high school you coming from, Shizu?”

“Why does that even matter?”

Koji’s smirk reignited. He had found a foothold. “Why? I suppose that’s a good question to ask, if you really don’t know. I graduated with highest honors from Sapporo Central Gakuin, so did Satou over here. Onari came from Hakodate Prep, isn’t that right Onari?”

Koji’s two cronies grinned and nodded, puffing out their chests. Kaname was just starting to understand what Koji was on about, and noticed the energy of the crowd starting to shift.  
Koji pressed further, looking around at the onlookers that were still gathering up. “I see a few more folks from Central here. Sapporo East too, a few from Yuon prep… Basically, what I’m saying, Shizu, is that if you actually went to a high school that’s worth a damn, it tends to matter a bit more. But of course, you’d be forgiven if you didn’t know that.”

From Koji’s right side, Satou finally saw his chance to speak up. “I’m pretty sure she’s the chick who rides that beast of a motorbike to school every day.” A few chuckles followed this, and they didn’t just come from the soccer boys.

“Really? Man, you’re one cool cat, Shizu. Come to think of it, I think I do hear you rolling on into the east parking lot most days… some days? I think I smell it too. Coming from the oil district, eh? Pretty far drive, seems like, all the way on the other side of the river… Lotsa good technical colleges that way too, I wonder how you ended up here…”

If she were back in high school, she would have already been about twenty fists deep into Koji’s smarmy face and stomach. But something was different here. She felt weighed down, rooted to the spot where she stood while Koji’s venomous insinuations splattered upon her like verbal tomatoes. Dozens of eyes stared at her, waiting to see what she would do. In high school, she had been able to fight because everyone watching knew what to expect from her; they knew she was a no-good delinquent with a penchant for violence. Back then she had been free from judgement because everyone judged her at first sight. But here, at a place where no one knew her past, she was suddenly trapped by the opinions of a bunch of people she didn’t know, who didn’t know her, but who also seemed to expect something more of her than an angsty teenager who lashed out at the world when it started giving her a hard time.

So what else could she do, but just stand here and suffer the torment? It was better than putting the focus back on the cleaning staff woman, who Kaname saw was still there. Kaname recognized her now as the woman whom she had briefly talked to the on her first day. The woman recognized her too and seemed desperate to help her out the situation, but it was entirely unclear to her or Kaname on how that could happen. Kaname didn’t begrudge her for that though, she had accepted the consequences of her actions when she had stepped in, and she had no regrets about that.

Bolstered by this feeling, she stared Koji in the face and re-assessed the option of just decking him in the face after all. It would at least shut him up for a few good seconds. Koji seemed to read her expression instantly.

“What, you’re looking to fight now? I wouldn’t recommend it. This isn’t high school, you don’t get detentions anymore. Police get involved…”

~~ End of Part 4 ~~


	13. Myth 2:5

“That will not be necessary, Koji-sempai.”

Everyone’s attention was drawn to the newcomer who had just cut her way swiftly through the loose ring of onlookers. Kokonoka strode up and imposed herself between Kaname and Koji, giving him a courteous bow.

Koji’s snarl turned down a few degrees. “Ichiryuu-san. You know this girl?”

“Indeed I do. She’s new here this semester, and has been here less than two weeks. I offered myself to her as somewhat of a welcoming guide to the university, but I’m afraid I’ve been negligent in my duties, so any consternation that arose here is entirely my fault. I hope we haven’t disturbed your day too much, sempai.”

“Wait, that’s not—” Kaname started to explain, but stopped as she saw the expression Kokonoka was wearing while addressing Koji, and by extension the rest of the onlookers. It was friendly and bright, but while it might have fooled most here, Kaname saw little more than a mask; whatever Kokonoka’s real thoughts or feelings were, they were entirely concealed behind a carefully-constructed visage that did nothing to diminish her gentle grace. 

Koji seemed unwilling to let his public execution of Kaname’s character be curtailed so abruptly. “You’ve got a lot on your plate then, Ichiryuu-san. I’m surprised you keep such… colorful company these days. Angling for a ride on that motorcycle?”

“I try my best to meet and know the wide variety of students who come to our university. I think it’s wonderful that our school is open to people with a great many passions. We have excellent representatives for the soccer team, including you three sempais…” She gestured warmly at Koji’s group, and while Koji remained stiff, Satou and Onari couldn’t help but melt a bit at Kokonoka’s praise.

Kokonoka then went on to name further examples of sports, clubs and hobbies that Yuon U students had, and Kaname realized that she was referring to individual people in the crowd around them; she had never truly comprehended Kokonoka’s abilities as a socialite until now.

“… And of course, the lead editor of our esteemed newspaper, Kato-san.” Kokonoka referred lastly to a girl who had just broken through the crowd to come to Koji’s side. The effortless confidence with which she carried herself was a match for Kokonoka, but her sharp style and head-turning looks would have earned her attention enough. Kaname sensed no warmth coming from Kato, however; the girl’s glare raked over Kaname’s body in an instant, and finding nothing of value, settled on Kokonoka. She spoke to Koji, curling her arm around his while never breaking her gaze.

“You kept me waiting, Kacchan. You said you’d meet me in the cafeteria ten minutes ago. Is something going on?”

Kato’s presence had further dampened Koji’s fire. “No, I mean, uh…”

Kokonoka gave her a short bow as well. “I apologize most profusely, Kato-san. I kept him engaged in conversation too long and delayed him from your appointment.”

Koji fumbled around with his words for a few more seconds before Kato turned away in disinterest. “Fine. Come on, Kacchan, I’m still hungry and now there’s not much time before class.”

Koji gave up protesting and shrugged off his two followers, who grabbed up their own bags and left their leader. At this point the crowd was dispersing, seeing no more chance for blood. Koji caught Kaname’s eye before he departed, and made it clear that he wasn’t satisfied with letting her get off here. Kaname tried to imply in return that he should make sure to bring backup—maybe the whole soccer team, plus reserves— if he came looking for more trouble.

Kaname looked around for the cleaning lady, but it seemed she had slipped away unnoticed. With that, Kaname considered the matter truly finished, having accomplished what she had stepped in to do. And yet, she didn’t feel like she had won whatever had just happened there. No matter how roughed up she had gotten during past altercations, she had usually left in a better mood, having found an outlet for her tumultuous emotions. While this standoff had ended without a punch thrown, Kaname’s legs felt weak and her stomach churned as if someone had held her down and played closed-fist patty cake on it. This novel feeling of losing a fight without even fighting was most unpleasant.

“Are you alright, Kaname?” Kokonoka was still standing there with her. Kaname realized she hadn’t decided where to head next; the time she had wasted bringing Koji down a peg had nixed her chance to meet with Yasuda before class. But it also didn’t feel right to just walk away from Kokonoka after all that had happened.

“Yeah, sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I hope you’re not upset regarding my intervention. I had a feeling you weren’t aware of Koji-sempai’s juvenile proclivities towards… people he believes beneath him.”

“If you’re talking about how he’s a gargantuan asshole, he made that abundantly clear before I even started talking to him.”

“So… why did you start talking to him?”

“Bastard was messing with one of the cleaning staff here. She was just trying to do her job. And craplords like him, the ones who pick on others cuz they need to feel superior… I just can’t stand by when they find weak people to prey on.”

Kaname knew she was probably being rather coarse in her explanation, so she was a bit surprised to catch Kokonoka’s smile out of the corner of her eye; it was warm and genuine, and very much reminded her of the smile she had seen upon their first meeting. Kaname felt her face heating up.

“I understand now.” Kokonoka continued to beam at Kaname, who had turned away in embarrassment. “Let’s put the matter to rest then, and say no more about it.”

“Sure.”

“Wait, Kaname, one more thing…” Kokonoka stopped Kaname from walking off and letting her face get back to a normal color. “I apologize for the situation that occurred in the Ancient Cultures Research Club room the other day. I’m afraid us senior members were inept in our handling of the discussion, and caused you undue aggravation.”

It took Kaname a second to translate all of Kokonoka’s proper words into a clearer meaning in her head. In the end, it didn’t sound like anything had changed. “Yeah, don’t worry about it. I’m sorry too, for running off. It’s cool now.”

It wasn’t cool, of course, but what else could she say.

“Has anything happened since then regarding the Ektroma?”

Kaname winced internally. “Nope. All clear here.”

“I see.”

Kaname looked back at Kokonoka, and her heart dropped further when she saw the smile had faded from her friend’s luminescent face. She watched Kokonoka try to regain her composure, but if the old smile was the sun on a clear day, this new one was barely visible through grey clouds.

“Well, you’ll us know if something comes up, right? It’s bound to make a move sooner or later. Or… let me know at least.”

“Yeah… Listen, don’t worry about it. Everything will be fine. I got it under control.”

Kokonoka merely nodded and allowed Kaname to hurry off to class.

Kaname pushed back the self-loathing that rose up within her, assuring herself that everything would indeed be fine. That wasn’t a lie. She did have everything under control. The Ektroma hadn’t hurt anyone yet, and she still had time to hunt down its victim and finish it off. She had no reason to second-guess herself. She had no reason to betray her belief in her own skills, which the rest of the ACRC still doubted. This was the only way to clear things up. As much as it pained her to have to act so coldly to Kokonoka, her pride would not allow her to stand by and be manipulated by the whims of a supercilious ghost. She was not a Kamen Rider, nor was she a hero, but she was a headstrong girl with a magic belt glued to her waist who wasn’t gonna wait for all the answers to help people in danger.

-#

“Like I said, it’s just for modelling purposes.”

“Dude, I’m telling ya, this chick’s boobs would snap her tiny waist in half.”

When all Kaname got in response was a cold glower, she set the figurine back down on the table, careful not to apply more than the slightest pressure to any one plastic joint, lest the poor girl’s arm pop off for a third time. She was not overly familiar with anime characters in general, but it was hard to avoid the conclusion that whoever had spent hours of their life designing this pink-haired, bubble-eyed barbie doll with tits out to her elbows may have been closer to zoo animals than they had ever been to a real live female. But hey, what did she know about “art”.

To avoid being further unsettled by Magical Girl Shiny Sekuhara’s dimensional distortions, Kaname cast her gaze around Yuuto’s bedroom. Most of the floor that wasn’t covered in dirty clothes or puffy plastic bags of garbage was quilted in sheets of paper specifically sized for manga manuscripts. The papers flowed outward in every direction from their origin on the low worktable in the center of the room. While none of the drawings even managed to do poor Sekuhara-chan any justice, you couldn’t say Yuuto hadn’t been productive. Kaname realized that that was the half-assed compliment she probably should have given him thirty minutes earlier, when she had just stood there dumbfounded and Yasuda had had to quickly step in and soothe his friend’s fragile ego.

It had become clear pretty quickly that Kaname wasn’t going to be a receptive audience, so Yasuda had spent the last half-hour trying to humor his friend as he listened to the inanely-complex plot to _Exacerbate! Eternal Fighting Magical Girl Hoshizaku!!! (Working Title)._ Before Yasuda and Kaname had entered Yuuto’s residence today, Yasuda had filled in Kaname about Yuuto’s sudden obsession with writing a manga, after he had just as suddenly abandoned his ronin studies.* Apparently Yuuto’s newfound passion had produced far more material than he had expected, with stacks upon stacks of rough drafts, edits and rejections piling up in less than twenty-four hours.

Kaname saw Yasuda’s eyes starting to glaze over, so from behind Yuuto’s back she snapped her fingers in a muffled sort of way to bring his attention back. He saw and recomposed himself. Kaname needed him to do his part of the plan if she was going to do hers.

“Geez, Yuuto, that’s pretty… neat,” Yasuda said quickly when Yuuto had stopped to take a breath. “But have you given any more thought to what we had discussed yesterday?”

“Why would I? My plot’s coming along great, as you can clearly see.” Yuuto raised an eyebrow at him and crossed his arms huffily. His build was similar to Yasuda’s—Kaname had been unsurprised by this, they probably rolled off the same nerd assembly line—but Yuuto was a bit more filled out, a bit softer in feature and stockier in his core. Where Yasuda could be cute if he gained a bit more self-confidence, Yuuto could probably be attractive in a manly sort of way, if he wasn’t currently sporting stained sweat-clothes, greasy hair and sitting in his room with a bunch of hypersexualized anime figurines.

“I recall your hesitation when I was telling you about the Zombie Tournament in Double Hell arc, the one in which Hoshizaku-chan has to turn herself into a zombie so she can participate in order to defeat one of the fourteen Lords of Eternal Recapitulation. And you know, after mulling it over for awhile, I saw where its weaknesses lay! So I ended up having Hoshizaku make a clone of herself using the Midnight Miracle Vessel she got from the Sky Goddess in the previous arc, if you’ll remember, so that she can make a zombie-vaccine from her own cloned genes and—”

“Yes! Yes, I definitely remember all that,” Yasuda interrupted him with a brave lie. “But I meant more along the lines of whether you would at least continue your entrance exam studies, alongside working on your manga.”

Yuuto let out a long sigh. “Look, I told you already, that was going nowhere. It’s been almost half a year and I don’t feel like I’ve made any great improvement since I started. And now that I have this incredible story coming to me all at once in a deluge of inspiration, how can I ignore what seems to be my true calling? The world deserves to hear the grand tale of Hoshizaku-chan, in the full glory of its twenty-six arcs plus three light novels and a 4-part movie!”

In the time this exchange had been going on, Kaname had not been idle (and had certainly not been paying any attention to Yuuto’s ramblings). She was stepping lightly around the clutter of the room, gingerly lifting stacks of paper and poking beneath piles of garbage. The Wonderpen had to be somewhere in this creative pit. However, she was having no luck, and was becoming worried that Yuuto kept it close to him at all times, as Yasuda had when he was under its spell. She wasn’t looking forward to having to pin this large, sweaty boy down while Yasuda frisked him, but she would do what had to be done.

She then spied a pair of sweatpants, wadded up at the foot of the bed. She had a thought, and it made the bile rise a bit in her throat. But she knew she had to check. She turned back and made a motion for Yasuda to keep up the distraction, and then steeled herself. It wouldn’t be that bad as long as she held her breath. With swift, delicate movements in which she tried to touch the pants as little as possible, she unrolled the garment and stuck a finger into the pocket. Eraser… coins... _tissueohgodtissue_ … wait, something pen-shaped, with strange curves and bumps on it… jackpot!

“What are you looking at over there, Shizu-san?”

Kaname froze up, pen halfway retracted from the pocket, but with her body blocking Yuuto’s view of it, at least. Goddamn it Yasuda, you had one job.

“I, uh, was just checking out the, uh, coloring job you did on this page! Really cool.” She stared down in silent horror at the few pages strewn on his bed, all of which were drawn in pencil only.

“Oh, you must be looking at the end of the third arc, when Hoshizaku-chan discovers that one of the Exploding Snake Priestess Princess Triplets is actually her long-lost sister! That’s a great reveal right there.”

Wait what? Only one of the triplets is her sister, how does that even make—“Oh! Yeah, totally, love it. Hey, YASUDA, didn’t you have more questions about, uh, Hoshizaku’s backstory, where her mother is the dragon queen of Mars?”

“What? I didn’t—”

“Dragon Queen of MARS? What in the world are you talking about, Hikaru? I can’t believe you don’t remember that after I explained it to you _three times!_ The Dragon Queen of Mars was only Hoshizaku’s mother in the _dream world_ , which got retconned after she returned to Earth and reunited the separate dimensional rifts…”

How the hell do you retcon something when you’re still in the middle of writing it? Kaname shook her head and took her chance to pocket the Wonderpen. Since she had failed in her attempts to obtain it back when Yasuda had had it, she wasn’t sure if there was some psychic connection that it had established with Yuuto that would tell him if it was being absconded with. She would just have to risk it; after all, all she really had to do at this point was make an exit from the premises, through the window if absolutely necessary.

Yuuto had no obvious reaction to the pen being in Kaname’s possession, however, so very soon thereafter she was able to excuse herself for the sake of getting all of her homework done for tomorrow (thankfully Yuuto didn’t know her well enough to know what a big fat lie that was). Yasuda would remain with Yuuto a while longer, allowing Kaname to put some distance between the pen and its new victim. Once outside the house, she activated the Calliope Belt, anticipating the appearance of the cowardly Ektroma, who might be more eager to fight if it sensed the source of its power in jeopardy. It seemed her luck was holding, however, and once she was roaring along on her bike she finally allowed herself to admit how surprisingly easy that had been…

Of course, the act of acknowledging that something has been too easy is an insult that fate tends to take personally. Kaname suddenly noticed the sharp increase in noise that was coming from her tires below; they were squealing and screeching against the asphalt, and she grasped tight to the handlebars as she tried to keep control of the bike. It didn’t feel like she had slipped on anything; it rather felt like some massive load had been chained to her motorcycle, and the engine was desperately straining against it. Smoke and the stench of burnt rubber was now emanating from the tires, and Kaname brought the bike to a careful stop by the side of the road.  
She stared in amazement at the remains of the tires; in just a few hundred feet, they had gone from perfectly fine, having put on new ones just yesterday, to entirely bald and blown out. The danger instincts that her served her well through high school and were now further honed to combat the supernatural turned her attention to a nearby alleyway. She was glad she had taken the precaution of putting on the Calliope suit earlier.

~~ End of Part 5 ~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *In contemporary Japan, a ronin is someone who's failed the admission exam for the university they wanted to get into, and thus are spending an involuntary "gap year" studying their ass off to pass the exam the following year. Every university in Japan has its own personal entrance exam, so you can only apply to a very limited number of them per year, and obviously super-elite unis only accept a small percentage of applicants, leading to a lot of ronin for those schools. I might be over-generalizing or have some incorrect details, if you know more then leave a comment. If you wanna learn more about ronin, read Love Hina. (Or don't, it hasn't aged well.)


	14. Myth 2:6

“Whoo-ee! What a smell those tires make!”

Calliope turned to face the figure striding towards her at a leisurely pace. They were entirely covered in an armored suit, one which reminded her strongly of the spiny warrior that had helped her fight off the first Ektroma. This new character was decked out in crimson, and carried themselves with much more swagger and self-importance. Calliope’s danger senses, still on high alert, took note of how the newcomer affected the environment they came close to; the glass front of a vending machine rattled in its frame as they passed by, while plants in a potted row outside a doorstep twisted around themselves in painful contortions.

Calliope squared up to her enemy(?), letting them know that they drew close to instigating a brawl. “Can I assume you’re the one who did that?”

The crimson figure threw their hands up. “What? Me? Nooo… Actually yeah that was, no reason to hide it. You were going so fast I didn’t think you’d even noticed me if I called out to you.”

“What are you? Are you a Kamen Rider? Or an Ektroma?”

“Excellent question! To which I’d have to say, neither. I suppose I fall more on the Ektroma side of things, but as you can see, we’re able to hold a pleasant conversation that most Ektroma couldn’t quite manage.”

“What are you after?”

The figure sighed and scratched their helmet with the long black nails of their gauntlet. “Do we have to do this whole exchange? I know you want to play the hero here, but talking like this just feels like lazy exposition. Maybe you watch a lot of action flicks? In any case, you know exactly what I want.”

The not-quite-Ektroma had begun to slowly circle around her, and Calliope quickly moved to matched their pace. “Sorry, I’m still pretty new on the job, I like to ask questions. What do you want with the Wonderpen?”

“I just want to get it back to its rightful owner, of course, after you so rudely stole it. It was doing such a good job growing that new Ektroma after all.”

“What reason do you have for making Ektroma by preying on humans? What’s your goal?”

That remark earned a sassy finger waggle. “Sorry, that’s on a need-to-know basis. You don’t have clearance for that yet, as you’re just a replacement Rider.”

“Great, like I haven’t gotten tired of hearing that bullshit recently.”

“Oooh, did I hit a sore spot? Sounds like you’ve got a lot on your plate, newbie. I’ll just grab that pen and let you be on your way.”

The two had completed their synchronized circuit twice around, but now Calliope stopped moving and stood her ground, taking up a fighting stance. “Not happening. If you are similar to an Ektroma, I expect you’ll take your lumps like one too.”

At this provocation, her smarmy opponent shut up, and she noticed a distinct change in the air around her; it felt thicker, and heavier, filled with menace. It wasn’t quite the same as Pandora’s Box, but if this foe was some kind of Ektroma she was prepared for its arrival. First rule of avoiding an opponent’s weapon? Beat them up before they ever had a chance to use it.  
She burst forward, her dash enhanced by the power of her suit, turning her into a javelin of impending pain. She had been expecting a dodge away from her first attack, but her target hadn’t moved an inch. With a move so precisely calculated they could still make it look careless, the enemy swatted away Calliope’s incoming fist and replaced with their own, directly into her solar plexus.

Her body flew backwards faster than her awareness, and it took a second for the two to realign a few meters away, crushed against a stone wall. All of her attention was then drawn to the searing pain radiating from the point of the enemy’s contact. It felt a hot iron was being held against her chest; she couldn’t escape it no matter how much she twisted about. This was the moment Calliope discovered the regenerative properties of her Rider suit; even if she suffered a grievous attack that tore, crushed or otherwise penetrated the suit’s supernatural defenses, the outfit would hastily stitch itself back together. Despite how incredible this feature was, Calliope watched in horror as the suit fought a losing battle against whatever foul effect that punch had imparted. The suit was constantly fraying and reforming, fraying and reforming, and it did nothing to mitigate the feeling of a dozen-layered friction burn on her abdomen.

Calliope channeled pain into battle rage and leapt back up at her attacker. The injury kept her mind sharp and her body taut, and her opponent wasn’t able to get in another surprise counter. Whenever she seemed on the verge of overpowering them in hand-to-hand combat, however, the air directly around the crimson fighter flashed with heat, and Calliope felt like someone had just dropped sandbags on all her limbs. It broke her flow, and allowed her opponent to get in a few good strikes.

She knew every hit she took put the Calliope suit under more strain. Each additional blow directed more energy into keeping parts of her armor from fraying away, leaving nothing between those dangerous fists and her normal clothes and skin. The searing effect hurt enough through the suit, she didn’t want to imagine what it would do if applied directly. She sharpened her focus to a single gleaming point, and then thrust that point outwards at her foe, manifesting it as her silver-and-violet spear.

Calliope managed to catch her opponent off-guard with her weapon from nowhere, and she forced her advantage. The spear put a couple precious feet between her and the opponent’s decaying touch, so she could renew her furious assault without having to constantly defend as well. Her foe was now growing impatient, no longer enjoying a battle that was so close to being fair. When Calliope thrust at them again, they twisted about and grabbed the shaft of the spear, just below its keen head. As they tightened their grip, the whole length of the weapon began to sizzle and glow with heat, and it bowed near the center as if something were trying to snap it clean in half.

Calliope knew if she let go the match would be forfeit; despite it feeling like she was crushing a nest of fire ants through her gloved hands, she maintained a tortured grip on the spear, desperately trying to wrench it out of the crimson warrior’s hand. To her monumental efforts, he gave a throaty chuckle, and before she knew it Calliope was swung off her feet. She tumbled through the air and crashed against something large, metallic but oddly refreshing; burst cans of soda and coffee rolled around her as she collapsed at the base of the vending machine that had interrupted her flight. Her spear clattered down on the ground next to her, having been used as a convenient tool with which to pitch her clear over her attacker’s head.

“Looking a bit haggard there, replacement Rider.” The victorious fighter approached her, stopping to snatch up something small that had landed next to her spear.

Realizing what it was, Calliope tried to climb to her feet, but her body vetoed the bold move. “Wait, give it… give it back.”

“Convincing argument, really,” her opponent cackled above her head, twirling the Wonderpen between their fingers. “I’m almost swayed.”

A surge of furious energy got Calliope to her feet, but the enemy was ready, and planted a foot into her chest that sent her crashing back into the vending machine.

“You can’t… you can’t just take that!” She shouted at them, unable to mount a second assault.  
At this, her foe crouched down on their knees, as if addressing a tantruming child. “Oh, but I can. I beat you, so I get to take whatever I want. That’s the right of the victor. That’s the difference between you and me; I’m strong, so I can take this. You’re weak, so you had to resort to stealing it. You thought you could take the easy way out, and avoid confrontation… And thus, you forced me to step in, when you’re not anywhere near ready to take me on. Life lesson for ya, punk; you gotta keep playin’ the game until you’re good enough to beat it.”

The fury that burned inside Calliope’s chest, right below the sizzling hole in her suit, demanded she give a retort, but she needed the rest of her energy to maintain consciousness at the moment. After a beat, her opponent pushed themselves up to standing and started to stride away. They paused after a couple steps, held up by a thought.

“I don’t wanna seem like a total downer, so I will say this—you impressed me with your combat skills back there. I wasn’t expecting much from a replacement, but consider me pleasantly surprised. Makes it even more of a shame, though; if you had a bit more training maybe you’d be able to make things _real_ interesting for me.”

They turned back around again to face Calliope, who still slumped against the vending machine. “See, I wasn’t lucky enough to be around when Atlas was still kickin’. I’m one the ‘new guys’, y’know? But I heard from the other Titans that Atlas really gave ‘em a run for their money. I get envious just thinking about it…”

That was some new info for Calliope. “Titans?”

“That’s right. I suppose you’ve already met Tethys, the one who saved your ass last week. Left a bad impression I’d say, given that we’re Kronos’ handpicked lieutenants. But don’t worry about Tethys, all they do is skulk about and hide. Your first and last opponent will be me, Iapetus.”

With that, Iapetus turned about and strode off, leaving Calliope surprisingly alone on the small side-street. No one had been drawn to all the commotion they had caused from their fight—then again, maybe Pandora’s Box had more subtle influences as well. Calliope crawled into the relative privacy of a nearby bike shelter and deactivated her suit. Kaname felt a moment of relief, as if a bucket of cold water had just been thrown over her burning, aching body. While the suit had protected her from the most lethal part of the assault, Kaname knew she was in for another few rough nights of sleep.

The only small positive that had come out of his humiliating defeat had been the information that Iapetus had been willing to divulge (they seemed to enjoy running their mouth, which Kaname had managed to take advantage of). Kronos, Kamen Rider Atlas’ old archenemy, was still alive and kicking somewhere, gathering his forces in the absence of the hero. While most people of Yuon City knew of Kronos due to the ill-fated battle a couple months ago, Kaname wasn’t aware that the big boss had sub-bosses that were more autonomous than the Ektroma she had encountered so far. Something about them felt far more human as well. This was all useful intel, things she should have been informed of by the ACRC before she got ambushed and flattened by one of them.

Once she had determined that the brand-new tires she had the bike were no longer usable, her frustration reached its peak. She blinked back tears as she pushed the motorcycle down the side of the road on her long journey back home. Not only had the rift between her and the ACRC screwed her even further, her gamble to prove them wrong had backfired stupendously in the same moment. The Wonderpen was gone again, and it would likely be carefully guarded until the Ektroma evolved. She had no idea what she was supposed to do from here, and she wasn’t likely to find an answer before her absence from the ACRC became suspicious.

She wondered again why she had been forced into this position of “replacement Rider”, which then caused the belt to appear on her waist, digging into her sore spots as she strained against the dead weight of the bike. In another way, it also reminded her of her own resolve; Yuuto wasn’t in any less danger now. Her determination had survived some rough beatings before, though none had involved an opponent that could destroy her magic armor with their mind powers. The point was, she couldn’t forgive herself if she gave up now… But first, a long, hot bath.

-#

~~ End of Part 6 ~~


	15. Myth 2:7

If Kaname had been entertaining any hopes of showing her face at the ACRC, they were dashed as she examined herself in the mirror the next morning. While the worst bruises on her body would be concealed under her clothes, she wasn’t sure Yuon campus had a staircase tall enough to lie about the conspicuous cuts on her face. Moreover she was so sore and stiff she was moving as slowly as Urusai, whichever one was complaining more about their back or their knees or their arthritis that particular day. There was no hiding her injuries, so she would just have to hide from everyone else.

She had at least managed to get her old-new tires replaced with new-new tires on her bike; it had been an unpleasant couple hours last night convincing her mother that she had been thrown over the handlebars (hence the injuries) due to deceptively-crappy tires that had managed to burn out in less than 24 hours. In the end Masaki had allowed Kaname to snag the couple spares they had in storage, which had already been broken in, but Masaki had vowed to give the tire store salesman a piece of her mind the next time she was there.  
Kaname had let the topic drop at that point, having accomplished her goal. Lies upon lies upon lies, that’s how superheroes manage to keep everything from collapsing in on itself, right?

And so she moved from class to class like a nervous rabbit, trying to be aware of her surroundings so she wouldn’t have a chance encounter with Odakyuu or Kokonoka, or that asshole Koji from the other day. She certainly wasn’t scared of him, but she didn’t see any value in confronting him again given that it was apparently unacceptable now to start brawls at school (it had never been any more acceptable back in middle or high school, but Kaname had not yet caught onto the fact that it was her that was changing, not the institutional rules).

The only person Kaname was willing to talk to today was Yasuda. She actually put in an appearance at the study group, and even tried to study a bit while they filled each other in on yesterday’s events. Nothing much had changed after Kaname had departed from Yuuto’s house yesterday; he hadn’t noticed the Wonderpen being taken, but once the two old friends were alone Yuuto had been a bit more responsive to Hikaru’s questions. He was aware of his friend’s and his parents’ concerns, but his mind was set on producing the manga that he had been feverishly dreaming up. Hikaru could tell there was something else going on, but ultimately he had refrained from pushing too much. He had a feeling that whatever was eating at his friend, his hyper focus on his manga was currently the thing that was keeping him stable, in much the strange way that emotional states sometimes worked. So Hikaru had taken his leave without much further success.

Yasuda asked Kaname what the plan was now. Kaname couldn’t give him a good answer; she wished she had someone she could figure that out with, someone who she wasn’t trying to protect from danger at the same time. While Yasuda was imminently useful for dealing with this particular Ektroma, Kaname didn’t like the idea of getting him involved in anything Rider-related again, given how much his life had been upended due to him being the prior victim. If Kaname were to voice these concerns, Hikaru would surely insist that he wanted to help her in any way possible, and that danger was not a deterrent for him if it meant he could be useful to her. He would say that because he was a good friend and a kind person, and that was exactly why Kaname was determined to keep him out of it.

In the end, Kaname left him with a vague non-answer that she would keep patrolling for the Ektroma so that she could snuff it out before it got any stronger. She had absolutely no clue as to where to find it now, or how to fight it without it slithering off again. But those were her problems to mull over as she took her leave from the study club at the end of the day.

Kaname’s mind was so wrapped up in difficult questions without easy answers that she didn’t notice until it was too late. A voice called out to her.

“Kaname?”

The usual warmth that grew in her chest upon hearing that voice mixed strangely with the fear that had been simmering in her all day. But there was nothing she could do now but to face it.

“Kaname? Those wounds look painful…”

Kaname turned to face Kokonoka, who seemed to have been waiting in the student lobby near the study room, which happened to be in Kaname’s path to her exit. Kaname instinctively rubbed at the scratches on her face, causing them to sting afresh.

“Ah nah, they’re fine. Trust me, they’re not the worst—uh, I mean they’re really not so bad.”

Kokonoka had the same expression on her face the last time she and Kaname had talked, right after the Koji incident. Her usual warm, kindly expression was tempered by clouds, and her gaze felt hesitant and reproachful, as much as Kaname could tell while trying to avoid it.

“I see.”  
After a moment’s silence in which Kaname did not reply, Kokonoka continued. “I’m sorry if my presence here is unwelcome. I just wanted to talk to you again before the day was over, and I didn’t expect to find you at the club room. I wanted to see if you were alright.”

“Yeah! Yeah, of course. I get it. Slight, very minor, motorcycle accident, barely a thing. Stupid new wheels, y’know. It was… really strange, and…”

Kaname stopped talking as her brain failed to keep feeding her details for her lie.  
“You… already know what happened, right?”

Her realization was confirmed by a slow nod from Kokonoka.

Kaname sighed. “Of course. Your clairvoyance. So you probably know, like… more or less everything that’s been happening, right? Even when you asked before, with the Koji thing?”

Another nod.

“Well, shit. I feel pretty fuckin’ stupid right now. Here I thought I could actually handle shit without you guys but I guess you were all having a pretty good laugh watching me flounder about.”

“No! I haven’t told anyone else. Odakyuu-sempai, and Archimedes, know nothing.”

“Really? Wouldn’t Arc want you to fill them in?”

“I wanted to trust you. Because you wanted me to… or so I gathered.”

“Oh.”

The indignation that had once again been building up inside Kaname deflated immediately, like a balloon that had suddenly been released and now flew about making ridiculous, whiny noises. “But you didn’t say anything about that either…”

“I also assumed from your demeanor that you wanted to remain solitary in your plans. Plus, you were still understandably upset with us. I just… I just didn’t want to displease anyone else. And still my inaction led you to getting hurt again.”

This was possibly the saddest Kaname had ever seen Kokonoka. When she had first seen her friend’s radiant smile, she couldn’t conceptualize what Kokonoka would look like on the verge of tears, and Kaname would gladly beat up Koji and his entire hooligan soccer team if it would somehow prevent Kokonoka from making it again.

A few moments before, she had been angry at being one-upped by the ACRC due to her continuing incompetence. But now she saw how incredibly petty that viewpoint had been. Whether because Kokonoka had been monitoring her out of worry or because she received visions beyond her control, not only had she been unable to use her clairvoyance to help Kaname (due to Kaname’s bullheadedness), but she had also betrayed her duty to the ACRC and whatever secrets she held with the other members regarding the Kamen Rider situation. She had been stuck helplessly in the middle of two failures, and it was entirely Kaname’s fault, and now Kaname felt lower than the dirt beneath her shoes.

“I’m such an ass.”

Kokonoka blinked. “I’m sorry?”

“Sorry. I’m just a… a huge… something that’s less crude than saying I’m a tremendous fucking asshole. Sorry. I had no idea that’s what was going on with you and if I hadn’t been so wrapped up in my own stupid head about stuff…”

“No! That’s not how it is at all. Your reaction was entirely understandable. It was us that didn’t give enough thought to what it would feel like in your position, having to be kept in the dark like that. Arc still doesn’t understand, I suppose partially due to being an immortal spirit, but I should have been more… conscientious.”

Kaname felt herself start to get frustrated again, this time because she knew she wasn’t good enough at apologizing and taking blame to out-grovel Kokonoka in this situation, who had basically been trained from birth in this especially-Japanese social art. While it didn’t assuage her guilt (or perhaps her self-pity) to stop trying to take all the responsibility, she knew it would probably be the fastest way to end the No _I’m_ Sorry Cycle. “Alright. Well, you’re probably right, Arc can’t help that, but I’m happy to blame them anyway. I’m just sor--… I’m glad you told me. I appreciate it, I really do. These past few days have been… a lot.”

Kaname watched Kokonoka dab at the corners of her eyes, now creased by a cloud-breaching smile. In just that quiet moment her kind friend was able to express all the same things that Kaname had bumbled out of her mouth. Kaname wondered if there existed other people who had the same glowing grace as the Young Lady Kokonoka—logically speaking, there had to be, but Kaname neither knew nor cared about them. She wasn’t sure how she would deal with more people who seemed like candidates-in-training for angelhood. Boy she sure had some weird thoughts when she let her mind wander around Kokonoka. Time to start running her stupid mouth again.

“So, uh, hey, now that we’re back on the level… I could really use your help.”

“Of course. Anything!”

Kaname slowed herself down. “Oh. But, uh… Sorry, I guess I was making more of a personal request, rather than the involvement of the ACRC…”

“Ah, please don’t worry about that. I’ll lend you what aid I can without reporting it to the rest of the ACRC.”

Kaname raised her eyebrows at this. “Really? You’re willing to do that?”

“Yes. Until now I felt stuck because I was trying to not displease anyone. But there’s that moral story that teaches us those that strive for two different things shall end up with neither, you know?”

Kaname did not know. “Yep, totally.”

“With that in mind, I realize that in order to help someone, I must naturally end up displeasing someone else, however reluctant I am to be the cause of grief. The principal purpose of the ACRC is to help the Kamen Rider, and thus, that is what I resolve to do.”

“Oh… wait, what did you just say? The ACRC is made to help the Kamen Rider?”

A flush showed through the foundation on Kokonoka’s cheeks. “That is to say… That was a piece of information that had been previously divulged to you, was it not? Last time in the clubroom?”

“Not officially. That was a logical end that I was heading towards. But you totally just confirmed it yourself.”

Kokonoka now clapped her hands to her cheeks to hide their redness, and this first sight of her flustered embarrassment nearly made Kaname light-headed with how cute it was. Over the past few days Kaname had forgotten both how enjoyable and befuddling it could be to talk with Kokonoka. 

“Gracious. I… I… I should have been more cautious. Please forget what I just said! Or I suppose that’s a foolish thing to ask now. But please, really, let’s not continue with this course of conversation! The situation remains that I really, really can’t be talking about such matters further without explicit consent from Archimedes due to…”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it, I get it. It’s fine, I really mean it this time.”

It wasn’t completely fine, of course, but having Kokonoka back in her corner significantly outweighed the indignation of not knowing whatever stupid secrets the club kept. Throwing tantrums wasn’t going to get her anywhere, and she was tired of feeling angry at her only friends (minus Archimedes, she’d be glad to snark at that fucker for however long).

Kokonoka calmed herself down, letting out a long breath with one hand on her chest. “Thank goodness. I so greatly appreciate it, Kaname. From here on out, I’ll be of use to you however I can. So, what shall our next move be?”

Kaname was about to admit she had no such next moved planned, but an idea immediately popped into her head; a humble suggestion from her stomach, that had barely seen food that day. “Let’s go get ice cream from the campus store.”

“Excuse me?”

“My treat. Don’t worry, it’s a vital step in the process of taking down the Ektroma and saving Yuuto from the Wonderpen, trust me.”

“So I shall.” Kokonoka caught on to her friend’s intention and walked alongside her across the quad. The setting autumn sun set the field ablaze in golden light as it watched over its close reflection in the face of the young temple heiress.

\--#

“Thank you very much. Please let me know if anything changes…”

“I should ask the same of you.” Yuuto’s mother, a thin woman with deep, worried eyes raised her head after bowing to Hikaru in the doorway.

Hikaru wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He hadn’t received any calls or messages from his friend in three days; it seemed that Yuuto had regressed further into his isolating obsession, to the point where no one heard his bedroom door anymore. Food that was left out for him disappeared, and there were reluctant, curt responses to questions asked through the door, but not even his parents had seen him for days now. Hikaru agreed to her request, said his goodbyes and headed down the street.

His own memories of being under the influence of the Wonderpen were hazy at best. They came to him more like dark feelings, small fragments of the emotions that had clouded his mind a couple weeks ago and caused him to lose his will to a creature not of their world. Despite the chill it sent down his spine, he wished he could recall more for the sake of helping his suffering friend now. He had laid most of his hopes upon Kaname, but there seemed to have been no progress for the whole of that week. She had been patrolling the neighborhood and had done better at finding the skulking Ektroma, but was never able to wound it in a way that prevented it from slithering off and recovering.

Hikaru knew that Kaname was trying her best, but he also sort of wished she would try something else. What else she could do, he had no idea himself, so he kept those feelings of frustration in check. He knew that despite not having any kind of rapport with Yuuto, (and would likely never establish one based on any common interests), she was busting her ass to save him, because that was who Kaname was. That’s why she got to be the Kamen Rider.

And here he was, just a previous victim that she had had to save. He had first-hand experience of the terrors this supernatural tool inflicted on people, and yet there wasn’t anything he could do to help his long-time friend that now suffered the same fate. Sure, he didn’t have a magic belt that turned him into an instant superhero, but wasn’t there something he could do? Even if he couldn’t fight the Ektroma head-on, even if he wasn’t able to take the Wonderpen away from Yuuto, wasn’t there something he could do to at least change the situation? Surely anything would be better than the cat-and-mouse game that held both sides in a stalemate, while time still ticked away for Yuuto.

Hikaru rounded a corner, heading down a deserted road lined with shuttered shops on either side. The street had been a bustling shopping arcade twenty years ago, but time and the presence of online marketplaces turned many locations like this into malls for ghosts with kitschy clothing tastes. It was only frequented by people like Hikaru, who found it the most direct way from their A to B.

But there was one other visitor of the street that Hikaru had taken notice of over the past couple days. They were perhaps making an attempt to be clandestine, but they seemed to also be ignoring the fact that they were wearing a bulky suit of red armor, perched atop the rusty scaffolding that ran across the roofs of the arcade buildings. Hikaru had to guess they were relatively self-absorbed—they didn’t seem to be concerned that anyone bothering to look up at all would plainly see them. Something about them (not just the strange cosplay and the bizarre location) had given Hikaru a bad vibe, so he had hurried on his way without making it clear he saw the stranger.

But now Hikaru had started to wonder. From the armored figure’s vantage point, they would have a pretty good view of the surrounding neighborhood, for a couple blocks at least. A view that covered Yuuto’s house as well. The overall design of their armor reminded Hikaru of Calliope’s suit, and Calliope had fought with something that was not the Ektroma last week, although Kaname had never divulged the details. In hindsight, the whole thing was so blatantly suspicious that it seemed a testament to how deep in his own head Hikaru had been recently.

But now that he was aware of this, the seed of an idea started to grow. A bad, bad idea in all likelihood, but impatience proved to be a skilled gardener.

\--#

~~ End of Part 7 ~~


End file.
